Fluff Drabbles
by XxDe-JixX
Summary: a few OCxCharacter drabbles, along with a few wishes.
1. ZoDe Confusion

Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece! Oda-sensei does.

De-Ji was bored. She had been reading all week nonstop, and she was tired of it. She saw Luffy and Suta playing tag down below, and climbed down from the crow's nest to join their game. She was smiling in anticipation by the time she reached the bottom, and Luffy wasn't looking where he was going and slammed into the mast, knocking her down. Luckily, she was in a good mood and just laughed and tagged him, even though she wasn't it. To her suprise, he jumped up quick as a spring, and tagged her on the shoulder. De-Ji gaped in suprise after a second, and tagged him and ran off before he could react.

Up above, Zoro stirred in his sleep. He woke up, feeling cold. He looked beside him to see that De-Ji was gone. He looked down below and saw Luffy chasing De-Ji, and Suta was running in circles. Zoro's face heated with anger, and he climbed down the mast. He didn't even pause when De-Ji yelled a good morning, sleepyhead! at him. He just grumbled and climbed down into the men's quarters.

De-Ji shrugged, and kept running, and passed by Suta. Luffy stopped chasing her and tagged Suta, who then started running after Luffy. De-Ji paused to catch her breath and noticed that Zoro wasn't watching her. He usually did when she started playing with Luffy and Suta. She gave a worried frown at the trapdoor to the men's quarters, wondering if he was down there, when Luffy tagged her and ran off trying to scare Suta by saying he was it. De-Ji laughed in their direction, and started chasing Suta. After De-Ji was tired of tag, she went to go climb the mast, forgetting that Zoro had already climbed down. She reached the crow's nest, and saw that Zoro wasn't there. She was confused for a little bit, then shivered as a cold wind blew over her. She climbed over the edge, and started thinking about where he could have gone. She automatically ruled out the men's quarters, because she knew that he didn't like the stuffy atmosphere in there. She then decided that he might be talking to Sanji, in the kitchen. She smiled, and climbed back down to go see if Zoro was there. As soon as she arrived, Sanji was in her face, spewing some sort of nonsense, as expected. She walked around him, looking for Zoro. She asked Sanji where he was, and got no useful response.

Meanwhile, Zoro decided to ask De-Ji's side of the

story, and climbed up to find her talking to Sanji. Luffy would have been harmless, because he didn't know the meaning of the word girlfriend and the like, but

Sanji was a whole different sort of pirate. Red with rage, he stormed over to the kitchen and started yelling at the baka cook. De-Ji saw him, and started asking where he had been. Still furious, he started yelling at her. De-Ji looked at him with a shocked expression on her face. Tears started brimming in her swirling green eyes, and she ran off, leaving little tear tracks. Zoro just stood there staring after her. He hadn't meant to actually, really for truly hurt her. Sanji started yelling at him about what a big baka he was, making a girl cry, but he just pushed him aside and walked off. Before he realized what he was doing, he saw the tear trail under his rapidly moving feet. When his legs stopped moving, he was at the women's quarters, where he could hear Robin talking softly so that he couldn't hear what she was saying, and some sniffling every so often. Not wanting

to interrupt the girls, he walked off, thinking he could deal with it later.

De-Ji sat on Robin's bed,

starting to stop crying. Robin was saying comforting things, and reciting soothing poems softly by her ear. She looked up at Robin's taller figure, and smiled at her.

"Thanks, Robin-chan." she said gratefully. Robin simply smiled at her and continued reading her book, after she was sure that De-Ji was okay. De-Ji walked out the door, and saw Zoro leaning against the mast. She decided that she didn't want to get yelled at again, and walked behind the mast, meaning to talk to Sanji, and maybe get a snack. Zoro's eyes were closed, but he breathed her name under his breath as she walked by silently. Thinking it as just coincidence, she walked on. Zoro's eyes opened when he didn't hear her stop, and watched her walk up to Sanji. His eyebrows furrowed as he continued watching the most hated person he knew talk to his girl. Sanji tried to wrap his arm around her shoulders, and he turned away because he couldn't watch any longer.

Sanji's face stung a bright red after De-Ji had slapped him as hard as she could. She huffed and turned around, meaning to walk away in a huff, but she saw Zoro's back in her path, and her heart stopped. She couldn't walk that way. She turned around again and ran into the kitchen, shut the door and locked it. As she stood there with her irratic breathing and heart pumping wildly, she thought that Zoro might come up to the door and burst in, simply by breaking the lock. She ran and got a chair and put it underneath the doorknob, making it harder to break into the kitchen. Sanji was knocking on the door, and she pushed the oven up against the door, so he couldn't get in. She heard Zoro's slightly gravely voice coming nearer, and she backed into the farthest wall, and slid down, seating her butt on the cold floor. She sat there, and thought about what might happen between her and Zoro. Tears started welling up in her eyes again, and she shook her head in a futile attempt to stop them. She stopped shaking her head when she realized it wasn't working. So she sat in the futile position, her cheeks stained with tears, and sobbed.

Zoro was talking with Sanji, trying to find out what was going on. The door to the kitchen was locked, and he had heard scooting of something heavy across the floor. He found out that De-Ji had slapped him, and then started making strange reactions to what seemed like nothing. Luffy hadn't helped by running up and asking for food. Zoro's head hurt from confusion and Luffy yelling in his ear. Suta then wanted food as well, and that only made his headache worse. Zoro yelled at Luffy, thinking of earlier when he was chasing De-Ji. Before he knew what he was doing, he had screamed for Luffy to stay far, far away from De-Ji. Luffy stood there, looking confused.

"but Zoro, I was just playing tag with her," said the

empty pit that was Luffy. This time, it was Zoro's turn to look confused, then the confuzzled look turned to horror when he realized that he had yelled at her for nothing. Zoro turned around, and stared yearnfully at the door. For the first time in his life, he wanted to apologize.

De-Ji heard Zoro scream at Luffy, and looked up at the door, tears still streaming down her face. She wiped her cheeks, and stood up. She took a couple of cautious steps toward the door, and heard Luffy's voice through the door, though she couldn't tell what he said. She pushed the oven back to it's original

position, and pressed her ear up against the door, but heard nothing else. She sighed, wishing that she could just hear Zoro's voice again. She moved the chair back to the table, and unlocked the door. Zoro heard the lock click, and made his face turn cold again. He started fumbling with his swords as he waited for the door to open. It didn't. He waited a little more. It still didn't open.

De-Ji's head spun with indecision. She so wanted to see him again, to try to figure out what was wrong, but on the other hand, she didn't want to see his furious face, or hear his loud voice yelling at her. She reached for the knob, but then her hand stopped. It drew back slowly, but started moving forward again. The tears that were welling up again dropped from her eyes onto her arms and the doorknob. Then she finally decided to not open the door. She backed away from the door, and then collapsed from stress.

Zoro heard some footsteps moving away from the door, and then a thud. He almost gasped, but caught himself just in time, and broke the door off of it's hinges, earning some choice words from the already angry cook. He carefully set the door down by the doorframe, and looked inside to see De-Ji sprawled on the floor. This time, he did gasp. His legs ate up the length to her, and he knelt by her, and called for Chopper, who was peering around the door frame. Chopper's hooves made their little sounds as they crossed the floor. He took her pulse, and looked up at Zoro. Time seemed to slow. Then Chopper smiled and said she was fine, just overstressed. A sigh escaped his lips before he could stop it, and told the ero-cook to stop his whining, and looked down at De-Ji. He couldn't believe that he had done this to her. He picked up her head in his hands, and placed it on his lap, and started to pet her hair. His eyes popped open in suprise when he saw her eyelashes flutter, and her eyelids start to open. De-Ji blinked, and opened her eyes slowly. The light hurt her eyes, but she was curious as to why the back of her head was on something soft, and saw Zoro leaning over her, with a suprised look on his face.

Then she realized that she was on his lap, and his hand was on her hair. She blushed, and Zoro's lips started moving, so she interrupted him.

"Don't yell at me again. I'm sorry." She whispered up at him. His face softened.

"No, De-Ji, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you

like I did. I thought Luffy was after you, and then

you were talking to Sanji. I overreacted. Please forgive me," she almost didn't hear him say, it was so soft. De-Ji smiled, and grabbed his hand and held it loosely. Zoro smiled as well, then his head moved toward hers. Their lips connected, And the tears on De-Ji's tears suddenly felt cold, but were swept away kindly by one of Zoro's big hands. De-Ji lifted her other hand, and rested it on Zoro's cheek. They heard an "awww" in the background, and De-Ji blushed, but went on kissing. Zoro pulled away when he heard the aww, and glared at them, and they all scattered.


	2. LuSu A Cold

Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece! Oda-sensei does.

It was a hot day. Everybody but Luffy and Suta were lounging in the shade, but Luffy laughed when the water from the hose splashed over his uncovered chest. Suta laughed too, then Luffy turned his water gun on her. She squealed, and Luffy laughed again. Luffy ran, trying to avoid Suta's hose, but to no avail. He turned his water gun on Suta and got her across the stomach, and she put her thumb on the hose, making it squirt father and soaked Luffy in the face. They both squealed with delight, and started running around. This went on for about two or three hours.

Luffy and Suta were standing in the bright sunlight, dripping wet. They stood there laughing, at least until their skin touched their wet swimsuits, then they shivered. Chopper stood up, and yelled across the muddy yard they were playing in,

"You guys better hurry up and get into dry clothes! If you stay wet for much longer, you'll get a cold!" They didn't look like they had heard, so Chopper went to go sit back down in the shade. They stood there laughing and shivering until their swimsuits were dry. Then they walked back stiffly in their crusty suits. They changed into some dry clothes. Luffy, as usual wore his red vest and blue shorts. Suta wore a white cotton dress with a flower pattern. They smiled and laughed when they saw each other because their hair was still crusty. Suta ran off to get her brush, and Luffy sat down and started to play the 'I'm so lonely!' song on his radio. Suta returned with the brush after a few minutes, and everybody sighed with relief when Luffy shut off the song. Suta brushed her hair through in a few minutes, then took out the hairs and dropped them on Zoro just to bug him. Zoro opened his eyes, and blearily picked up the strands of hair, and tossed them overboard. Suta pouted, and then ran over to Luffy to brush through his hair. She placed the brush in his wild hair, and started moving it through the black strands. After a few minutes of combing through the knots, Suta asked Luffy,

"don't you _ever_ comb your hair?" Luffy shook his head once the comb got through one of the knots. Suta laughed at his answer, and went on brushing his hair. Luffy sneezed, pulling on his hair in the process. Suta went on brushing though, assuming it was a loose strand of hair that escaped the bristles of the brush and had landed on his nose. She kept brushing, and when she was done, Luffy's hair stood up in almost an afro, it was so frizzy. She laughed a little, and looked Luffy in the face. His nose was running, so he wiped it on the back of his hand, then wiped that on his shorts. Suta gave him a look, but he just laughed his signature laugh, and stood up. He wobbled a little, but steadied himself and moved on. Suta glanced a worried look at him, and followed him to the kitchen (of course XD) and grabbed a snack off of Sanji. Luffy sat at the table and put his head down. Suta gave him a longer worried look.

"you ok, Luffy?" she asked him, and he just groaned. Suta yelled for Chopper, and he came running in.

"WHAT HAPPENED? WHO DIED?!" he screamed when he ran in. He looked at Luffy on the table and shrieked. He placed Luffy on the floor, face up and sighed. He looked up at everybody and sniffed up the dribble of snot running down his upper lip. He groaned, then coughed. Chopper placed his small hoof on his forehead, and said,

"hmm.. fever, coughing, sneezing, feels bad.. He must have a cold." Suta looked down at him, and stared at his miserable face. Chopper went into heavy point and carried Luffy into the men's quarters. Suta followed cautiously and sat down by Luffy's hammock, where Chopper had placed him. He was sleeping soundly, if just a bit disturbed by the clogged nose every so often. Suta sat and watched. And watched. And watched. He never woke up, just coughed once in a while. Eventually, she fell asleep and slumped over into Luffy's hammock, her head resting on his chest. The next morning, Luffy was feeling better, but Chopper's orders were to stay in bed. He wanted to eat, but Chopper had said that he would throw up. Suta, being cursed with a metabolism similar to Luffy's, went to eat breakfast. And as she was eating, she snuck some bacon to Luffy. He ate it all in one bite, then let his head fall back on the pillow. Suta sat and talked with Luffy. He fell asleep often, sometimes even during the conversation! Suta wore a happy mask when Luffy was awake, but her worried face came through when he was sleeping. Sometime a little before lunch, Luffy woke up and tried to run to the bathroom, but was stopped by Chopper.

"OH GROSS!! LUFFY BARF!!!" Chopper said, dancing around trying to get it off. Luffy knelt on the floor, spewing stomach acid and bacon. Suta watched with a grimace as Luffy kept upchucking for another few minutes, then collapsed in sleep. Chopper took him back to his bed and stomped off to take a shower.

"I told him not to eat anything.." Chopper muttered as he went out the doorway. Luffy slept for the rest of the afternoon. Chopper, warier than ever, fed Luffy some broth a little after dinner. When he was finished, Luffy lay back in his hammock and smiled a little.

"I feel lots better!" he exclaimed to Suta. She smiled and sat down by his side once more. He smiled at her, and they talked for a while. Eventually Luffy fell asleep. You can't blame him though, being sick makes you tired. This time, she left when she started dropping off into sleep. When she awoke, she sat up quickly, remembering that Luffy was sick and needed her. She rushed to the men's quarters, and ignoring the other guys, ran to Luffy's side. He was still sleeping, snorting every so often because of his stuffy nose. Suta watched while everyone woke up, and left for a short while for breakfast. When she came back, Luffy was on his feet. She shrieked, and ran to him, screeching,

"LUFFY GET BACK IN BED YOU'LL FALL!!" Unfortunately she tripped on a random nail sticking up out of the wood, and fell into Luffy's arms. Luffy caught her in mid-air then said, with a stuffy voice,

"I'm fine. Just a head cold, Chopper said." Suta looked up at him and smiled. Then Luffy stood her back on her own feet, and to his surprise she ran off, yelling,

"**CATCH** ME if you can!" her voice getting quieter with every word as she ran. Luffy smiled then chased her yelling,

"I'LL GET YOU!!" He ran outside, and saw no sign of her. He swiveled his head around looking for her. Suta was above him, on the roof of the room he was in. She jumped when he stopped looking for her, and landed on his back. He yelped in surprise, and looked at his back, and laughed. Suta pouting a little at the lack of the reaction that she wanted, but soon joined in his laughter, but was cut off short. What had interrupted was Luffy's lips pressed against her own. She closed her eyes, and kissed him back.

The End.


	3. ZoDe Promises

Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece! Oda-sensei does.

De-Ji laughed when Zoro jumped after she had poked him from behind. He grumbled and rubbed where she had poked him. She smiled, as innocent as could be, and Zoro almost smiled back. She could tell that he was happy though. Sometimes she could read him like a book. He smirked, and she gasped. That can't be good she thought to herself, and Zoro proved her correct when he started tickling her. She squirmed and eventually started kicking and flailing her arms. Zoro laughed, then stopped tickling her. She was lying on her back, gasping for air.

"Don't... do.. that!" she managed to tell him. Then she sat up and said, "you made me laugh so hard that I have to go to the bathroom!" She walked up and left, accidentally knocking against Wadou. Zoro grabbed Wadou, and looked at it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a daisy, floating in a little current. He didn't see the daisy though; he saw memories of De-Ji. One was when she had slept against his shoulder, another was when she was blushing right after he had kissed her, and the others were when she had smiled at him. There were seven all together. He looked at Wadou again, and whispering to De-Ji in his head, he said, _with this katana, I swear to always protect you_. He sat and stared at Wadou until De-Ji came back, beaming as brightly as ever.

"I think I'll go too," Zoro told her, then handed Wadou to her. She looked at him incredulously, then grasped Wadou tightly to her chest to protect it. He walked off and out of sight. De-Ji sat, wondering what to do until he came back. She looked at Wadou, then unsheathed about 4 cm (around 2 1/2 inches) and Wadou reflected the sun, as well as happy memories. Like one of the few times he smiled at her, once when he was lifting weights, one time when he was snoozing away, like there wasn't a care in the world to worry about, and one more time, when he was smiling a little bit. She sighed and thought to him, _I promise to always be at your side, to love and to hold_. She heard Zoro's footsteps approaching, and snapped out of her little world inside of her head, and held out her arms to offer Wadou back to him, and smiled up at him.

"here ya go!" she said, He took Wadou, and sat down beside her again.


	4. LuSu Flashlight

Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece! Oda-sensei does.

Luffy was walking, whining while waiting for Suta to finish in the bathroom. His radio that played the I'm so lonely song had been lost, so he couldn't listen to and sing along with it. He looked down, feeling miserable, and saw a small object up against the wall and floor. He bent down to pick it up, and saw a button on it. Smiling with delight, he pressed the button expecting music, but instead got a bright light in his eyes. He staggered back, then started to attack it.

"gomu gomu no..." he started, then a voice rang out,

"Luffy! Stop!" he heard Suta say. He turned around and saw Suta running toward him, eyes intent on the small object. She ran past him and picked it up. She smiled at him and pressed the button again, aiming it at the floor. A blue light appeared on the floor.

"it's called a flashlight," she explained to him. He tried to touch the light, but it was on his hand instead! Then Suta shone it on the wall, and told him to catch it. He reached toward the light on the wall, but Suta moved the flashlight, causing the light to move, and he didn't get a chance to touch it, much less catch it. He glared at her, but she only laughed and said,

"catch the spider!" He lunged for it this time, trying to catch her off guard, but she moved it just in time so that he still couldn't reach it. He leaped to try again, and she moved it again.

"SUTA-SWAN!!!" Sanji yelled, interrupting them as he brought a snack for Suta. Suta, who wasn't paying attention to Luffy while she tried to attack Sanji for the chocolate cake in his hands, was still shining thelight on the wall. Luffy grinned and tried again.

"HA!!" he screamed when he touched it. They both looked over at him, and he grinned in triumph. Suta laughed and said,

"you cheated!" then she shone the light on the floor. Luffy stomped on it, and Suta turned it off. She took the cake from Sanji, and sent him away. Suta ate half the cake, then gave the other half to Luffy. With chocolate still on her face, she laughed at the sight of Luffy eating the mess that had once been chocolate cake. Then, while he was still busy eating, she shone the light on the wall. She giggled, and Luffy looked up and saw the light, and lunged for it again, tiny crumbs of cake falling from his lap as he got up. Suta moved it just in time. Luffy frowned at her, and said,

"you cheated!" She frowned for a little while, then smirked as an evil idea snuck into her innocent little mind. She turned the flashlight against the wall, then when she moved it, she shone it directly in Luffy's face, causing him to crash into the wall because he was blinded by the light. She laughed, and Luffy soon joined in. While he was still laughing, Suta shined the light in his eyes again, and he fell over backward to avoid the brightness. Then he sat up as quickly as he could, and lunged for her. She turned on the light to shine in his eyes to try and dodge him, but she was too late. He was already in the air, and she couldn't move in time. He collided into her, and grabbed the flashlight.

"AHA!!" He gripped it, and sneered at her. He turned it on again and shone it in her eyes this time. She squealed and reached for the flashlight, which he raised his hand to make her reach for it. She did, and he shined the light in her eyes again, making colorful spots dance in her vision. She grabbed it along with his hand, and De-Ji came walking by for a drink of water.

"awww how cute!" she said as she saw them, and continued walking on. They looked at each other and blushed, then let go of each other and scooted a foot away from each other. They looked around, seeing nobody, and looked at each other again. Luffy leaned over and kissed Suta quickly, and stole the flashlight back that she had acquired while they were occupied with stopping being cute.

"hee hee!" he giggled, and she started chasing him to

get the flashlight back.


	5. ZoDe Midnight Thirst

Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece! Oda-sensei does.

De-Ji woke up, tasting the inside of her mouth. It tasted funny. She decided to get up and go get a drink. She stumbled off, her legs still wanting to sleep. She blinked blearily and kept walking to the kitchen. Sanji wasn't up yet, which was strange, but she was grateful for it. She didn't want any flavored drink, just water. Sanji was annoying anyway. She shrugged it off and reached for the fridge, where her nice cool water bottle awaited her. Her hand knocked against the lock that was put there to prevent Luffy from taking midnight snacks. She glared at the lock, and then sighed. She turned around and reached inside one of the cabinets for a cup. Her fingers found one, and she pulled it down and looked at it. It gleamed mockingly in the moon's light, it's mouth being a large crack in it. It couldn't hold anything, much less water! She threw it on the ground, not caring if Sanji got mad in the morning. She reached up for another one, and got an unbroken one this time. She grinned at it, and walked to the sink quietly. She ran some water, wincing in anticipation of somebody waking up at the seemingly large sound, and exhaled with relief when nobody did. She put the cup under the clear, streaming water and waited until it was about 3/4 of the way full. She raised the cup to her lips, and drank for a long while. The nice, cool water running down her throat felt so nice! When she finished the water, she left the cup in the sink for Sanji to clean the next day. She walked out, a little less tired, and accidentally ran into the corner of the doorway.

"ow." she muttered, complaining to herself as she rubbed her shoulder. She looked around, and sighed in relief that nobody was there to see her. First of all, she was in some quite skimpy pajamas, and second, she didn't want anybody to see her bumping blindly into things. Her pajamas were cute, she had to admit. It was a white nightgown that showed an ample amount of bosom, covered in lace, came down only to about her knees, and was quite thin. As she acknowledged the last part, she shivered and rubbed her arms trying to warm them from the cold night. She walked off, leaving her embarrassment behind her. She closed her eyes, testing her knowledge of the ship, and walked on. She stumbled a couple of times over some nails, but she turned at the right times and didn't run into any walls. She almost yelped when she was grabbed from behind, but calmed down when she noticed Zoro's voice whispering in her ear,

"Hello. Why are you up?" She sighed, and blushed remembering her pajamas. He chuckled and discreetly took in her scent, which was especially good this night. He could smell her shampoo that she used. Strawberry scented. And her soap was lavender scented. The mixture was a nice smell to him, and her body heated up as he kept her there, hugging her small waist.

"Zoro..?" she whispered and he nodded, letting her feel his nod. She relaxed some more, then he felt her muscles tighten up as she noticed what she was wearing. Reading her actions, he said quietly,

"It doesn't matter." She slowly relaxed again, and Zoro started rocking from side to side, and De-Ji joined in once she caught his rhythm. It was so warm with her against his body, and her scent was starting to drive him crazy with emotions. She moved her head backward, resting it on his chest, and he opened his eyes, enjoying the look of pure adoration in her face. Her eyes were closed, and her full lips were partially opened. It almost looked like she was inviting him in for a kiss. He smirked for a second or two, and then moved his head down to connect them even closer. He felt her lips curve upward when they connected, and he smiled a little too. When they parted again, De-Ji pulled away from his hug regretfully, and turned around to look at

him. He was in his pajamas too, and she didn't exactly approve of his attire, but it was his life. He wasn't even wearing a shirt, and his tan muscled chest seemed to shout to the world, 'LOOK AT MY SCAR!' He was wearing some flannel pajama bottoms, with were just a plain blackish color. She then looked up into his face, and saw the pure emotions he was feeling at that moment in time. Her lips curved upward again, against her accord, and Zoro grinned back at her. Feeling awkward, she said quietly,

"Well, good night." She said, and he just grunted back. Then they parted ways, and went back to bed and deep, contented slumber.


	6. VALENTINE SPECIAL!

ZoDe Valentines

Passing through a town on an island, Zoro ran into a curious little store. He went inside, looking disgustedly at all of the little pink hearts and lovey dovey cards. It must be around that time of year again. Valentines'. Zoro's insides quivered with hate just at the thought of it. Not being able to stand looking any longer, he glared out the window, and happened to see De-Ji wandering randomly, seeming lost. He ducked down behind a shelf full of pink and purple plush bears holding little hearts with 'I love you' on them. He sneered at the bears, and looked out the window again, careful to keep out of sight. De-Ji walked right by the store, glancing at their wares with a strange look on her face, then walked on muttering to herself. Once she was out of sight, Zoro stood back up just as the manager walked to him.

"Need anything?" The manager asked. Zoro looked down at him, for he was a short, jolly kind of person. Zoro started to shake his head, but a1 thought passed through his mind. 'girls like this kind of crap.' Zoro caught the man on the shoulder, because he had turned around to walk away, and asked him,

"Got anything that isn't too stupid?" The manager laughed, then pointed to a little stand holding boxes of candy in the shapes of hearts with little phrases on them. Zoro let go of the man's shoulder, leaving him rubbing it, and walked over to the stand. He picked up a box, and shoved it at the clerk.

"That'll be .75 beris, please," said the clerk pleasantly. Zoro's eyebrows raised in suprise at the small price, and pulled out the right amount of his pocket. He had managed to scrounge up a little extra money without Nami finding out. He gave the clerk the change, and picked up the box and put it in his haramaki to keep it safe. He walked out the door, glad to be finally out of the store, and saw De-Ji right across the street. She waved at him, and crossed over to talk to him.

"Hi Zoro!" she said with a pretty smile. She then embraced him, and he froze. She pulled back with a quizzical look on her face, looked down at his haramaki, then back at his face and asked,

"What is that?" She looked back down at it, and poked it. Zoro covered it with one of his hands, and growled at her,

"Nothing. Leave it alone." She looked a little hurt, then her smile came back.

"all right," she said with a shrug, then walked on. Zoro sighed with relief, then started back to the ship. He ended up at the meat stand, where Luffy was with Suta, trying to convince the man behind it to give them all the meat. Zoro turned quickly on his heel, and headed back again. It was starting to get around noon, and Zoro hadn't even eaten breakfast. His stomach reminded him constantly. He growled at his stomach,

"quiet! I'll feed you later." Unfortunately, he happened to be walking by delis, and pizza shops, and all sorts of assorted restaurants, all excreting intoxicating aromas that made his stomach go crazy. He hit his stomach, and felt the box of candy he had bought. His stomach told him to eat it. He refused, and walked on. Thinking about which way to go, he didn't notice that his hands had minds of their own. They reached down into his haramaki, pulled out the box, opened it, and his hands put the candies in his mouth one after the other. His mouth didn't complain to his brain, however, but just ate them up. When Zoro spaced back in, there was only two pieces of candy left. He looked at them. One said something strange, something that wouldn't work as a gift. 'Bye Bye' as a matter of fact. The other would work just fine, except for the fact that it was only one small piece of candy. Zoro glared at his stomach, then found his way back to the ship. He hid the candy under his pillow so De-Ji wouldn't find it when she came back (somehow he found his way back before she did), then stalked off hungrily to the kitchen.

Valentines Day

De-Ji was standing as alone as you could get on the Going Merry. She was looking out at the sea, watching the fish or something. Zoro slowly walked up behind De-Ji, trying to sneak up behind her, and heard her say,

"hello, Zoro." Zoro made an aggrivated noise. De-Ji had pretty good hearing, and she could tell without looking who was walking up to her by their footsteps. He walked up the rest of the way, and when she didn't turn to him, took a couple of steps to the side and said,

"Oi, De-Ji..." he trailed off, unsure of exactly what to do. She turned toward him and tilted her head curiously. He shifted his feet nervously, and held out his hand. De-Ji saw a little candy heart gripped in fingers that almost shook with nervousness. She looked more closely at it, and it read, 'Kiss Me'. De-Ji felt her cheeks burn red, and she looked at Zoro, who seemed to have the same reaction. Luffy and Suta, who were done with their Valentine present, peeked up at them from the side of the Going Merry, and watched with a kiddish-like cute expression on their faces. Zoro, who couldn't stand to let people see his weaknesses, turned his face away from De-Ji, hoping the different angle would hide his blush. He heard a couple of footstep's, and turned to see De-Ji a mere few centimeters from his face.

"happy Valentine's Day," she murmered, then pressed her lips to his. They simultaniously closed their eyes, and Zoro kissed De-Ji back. In the background, you could hear Luffy and Suta in unison voicing their displeasure with an, "EWWWWW!!!"

* * *

LuSu Valentine's

Luffy looked up from his meat when he heard the door to the kitchen open. It was only Zoro. He looked mad, so Luffy grabbed all of the meat, and stuffed it all in his mouth, which was probably the worst possible thing to do at that point in time. Zoro was hungry. Zoro grabbed Luffy by his shirt, lifted him off his feet, and glared at him. Luffy gulped down the meat, and Zoro dropped him.

"oi cook! give me food." Zoro growled at Sanji, who was cleaning the stove. Sanji just glared at him, but started making the food. Luffy stayed, in hope of snatching a few morsels (if not the whole meal) from Zoro. Unfortunately, Zoro never gave him the chance of taking any of his food. When Zoro swallowed his last bite, he asked Luffy,

"Gotten anything for Valentine's yet?" The love cook pranced around, doing his noodle dance and blathering something about getting jewels and whatnot for Robin and Nami. He even included De-Ji and Suta once in a while. Zoro looked at Luffy, waiting for an answer, but unfortunately he was watching Sanji.

"oi! Luffy! You listening?!" Zoro partially yelled at his captain. Luffy looked at him, tilted his head, and said,

"na?" Zoro sighed, and asked his question again. Luffy still looked confused, so Zoro explained it to him. Luffy eyes went wide with shock, and he started running around the kitchen screaming something about a present for Suta. Zoro abandoned his captain because he was getting a headache with Sanji and Luffy making so much noise. Luffy kept running around, and then De-Ji entered. She shut the door, because she didn't want Suta hearing all that Luffy was shouting. About a second later, a big thud echoed through the kitchen from the door. Probably Suta trying to get to Luffy. De-Ji tapped Sanji on the shoulder and said,

"oi cook. Keep Suta busy for a while, ok?" Sanji danced off saying all the things he could do with Suta, and then De-Ji turned her attention to Luffy. She smiled, and asked the same question, and unfortunately got the same results. Only, she just giggled, and grabbed Luffy by the shoulder. His arms stretched as he ran around, and eventually came snapping back, sending him and De-Ji colliding into the wall. Luffy got off of De-Ji, and heard her muttering something about rubber smelling not pleasant when burned, so no bonfires. Luffy looked at her with the same curious face he had given Zoro when he mentioned Valentine's Day. De-Ji just laughed it off, and said,

"Need some help with a present for Suta?" Luffy screeched and almost started running again, but De-Ji stopped him. "I'll help you, kay?" Luffy pulled at her fingers, which were grasped around his arm so he wouldn't freak again, then looked up and nodded at her. De-Ji smiled and asked, "Got any ideas?" Luffy shook his head, and De-Ji let go of his arm, and went into thinking mode. "Hmmm.. Aha!!" De-Ji jumped up once she got her idea. Luffy got up, caught in the moment, and started dancing around in excitement. De-Ji caught him again, then asked him where the picture he drew for Suta's Christmas present was.

"In my room.." Luffy answered. De-Ji laughed, then told him to go get it. He scurried off, and De-Ji sat in one of the chairs. Luffy ran as fast as his skinny legs could carry his body weight, and slammed into the door. He opened it, and took a few quick steps inside. There, sitting by his hammock, was the picture. It was a picture drawn by Luffy (so you can assume it looked like a three year old drew it) of Luffy and Suta kissing under some mistletoe, and wearing Santa hats. Luffy grabbed it, and ran back to the kitchen. De-Ji was sitting at the table, and waiting for him. He put the picture on the table, and De-Ji's lips curved into a grin.

"You don't care if this is altered, do you?" She asked Luffy. Luffy just looked at her, and she said, "in layman's terms, do you mind if I change it?" Luffy smiled in understanding, then shook his head no. De-Ji's grin grew, and she pulled out a knife. Luffy jumped back, not knowing what she was doing, and she laughed and said,

"This isn't for you, it's for Suta's gift," De-Ji gestured with the knife as she spoke. Luffy jumped right back, and even more some so he could watch. De-Ji gripped her knife, careful not to let it slip, and started carving a rectangle around Luffy's picture, cutting out the mistletoe. Then, she folded it, and wrote on the front, 'Happy Valentine's Day!' Luffy grinned , and took the card, and was about to run out with it, until he heard De-Ji say,

"Wait! Today isn't Valentines' Day! wait a few days, then give it to her." Luffy's shoulders sagged, then De-Ji added, "Make sure to keep it hidden from her. And don't tell her about it!" Luffy's shoulders straightened again, then he ran off to hide it.

Valentine's Day

Suta smiled with pure joy as Luffy chased her around, trying to catch her in another game of tag. Luffy laughed, and crashed again into a wall. Suta laughed, and came up behind him. She stuck a couple of fingers in her ears, and waggled the rest, taunting Luffy. He got up, and tackled Suta.

"YOU'RE IT!!" he yelled, the joy showing in his voice and face. Suta giggled, then got out from under Luffy. Sanji appeared with drinks for the girls, and Suta almost tackled him, anxious to get hers. Luffy looked over at De-Ji, who winked at him. That was the signal! He ran to get the card while Suta was busy with her drink. Luffy resisted the urge to beg Sanji for a drink, and ran back quickly. Suta was chugging her green tea as fast as she could, getting as much flavor out of it as she could. Luffy walked up, the card hidden behind his back, and glanced at De-Ji, who was now staring out into the water. Suta finished, and smiled at Luffy.

"A new record!!" She laughed. Luffy laughed, a little nervously as well, which earned him a queer look from Suta. Luffy glanced around, seeing only Sanji and De-Ji, then pulled the card out from behind his back. Suta looked at it curiously, and Luffy handed it to her. She read the front, then opened it. She smiled, but it was a different smile. This one was full of adoration, even love. Luffy watched, anxious to know what she thought of it. Suta looked up at Luffy.

"Thank you!" She said, unsure of what to do next. Luffy put a hand over his stomach. It felt funny. Deeper into his torso, he felt another feeling past this 'nervous' feeling. Like an instinct. It was telling him to kiss Suta. He followed his gut feeling, and leaned in slowly. Suta blushed, then moved closer. Luffy closed the gap, then quickly pulled away, his face almost matching his vest. They looked up when they heard Zoro say something, but it was too quiet to hear what. They climbed onto the side of the ship, and went to go spy on De-Ji and Zoro...


	7. LuSu AU Mermaids

Luffy was swimming along, minding his own business, just following Sanji to go mermaid watching. This was so boring for him. He swam along on his back, wondering why anybody would want to do this.

They were all pretty and all, but they could have been playing tag! He looked at Sanji and snorted. There was blood in the water around his face, and his eye was in the shape of a heart. He wiggled around like some kind of eel, too. The blood might attract predators, but he didn't care.

Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of yellow. Luffy looked over, almost expecting a lionfish, but it was a mermaid. She was hiding behind a coral, so he couldn't see her face, but she seemed different than all the others.

He looked over at Sanji, and decided that he was no fun, along with Zoro who was staring at a brown, curly-haired mermaid who was glaring at Sanji and the other mermaids. Luffy swam over and said,  
"Hi! I'm Luffy. Wanna play tag?" She looked at the   
love-cook for a second then nodded.  
"As long as he isn't playing. He's gonna get eaten by a shark!" she said. Luffy laughed and shook his head. She smiled and swam away with him. When Luffy stopped, he was almost immediately got poked in the back.  
"tag!" she exclaimed and swam off swiftly. Luffy laughed and chased her. She was fast, and he swam quickly, and lightly touched the fin at the bottom of her tail. He laughed and turned around, getting a head start. The girl mermaid turned around, and started chasing him. He was swimming as fast as he could.

After a while, he slowed down and looked behind him to see if he had lost her, he hadn't. She was swimming as fast as he was, and maybe a little faster now that he had slowed down. Before he could react, she tagged him, and he sank down, laughing.

She swam down, laughing as well and she started playing with her straw-colored hair with a red ribbon in it. It caught the light and shone, attracting his eyes toward it no matter what he tried to disctract himself with.

She saw him staring, and stopped playing with her ponytail. He slowly drifted up to be close to her. She stopped breathing, or whatever fish do XD, and his breath caught as well. He moved still closer. He didn't know how to stop. He couldn't control himself, and he moved still closer. He stopped finally about a centimeter away (about 1/3 of an inch) and she closed her bright, happy blue eyes. He closed his eyes, and closed the gap between their lips.


	8. ZoDe Naps

Zoro POV

De-Ji slept. Zoro unlocked the door, and stuck his head in to peek into her room, and grinned evily. Stealthily, he slunk over to the side of her bed, and shut the door soundlessly behind him. He gazed at her face. Her lips were partly open, and she was mouthing words as she dreamed. Her eyelashes fluttered in dreams. 'She is so beautiful.' He thought to himself.

Her forehead wrinkled with a frown, and he froze. She turned over in her sleep, and he barely caught a relieved breath before it escaped his lips. He gazed at her hair, a bit disheveled from her moving around in her sleep. He smiled, and grasped a lock of hair. It was so soft... He ran his fingers through her hair, being careful not to snag tangles, in danger of waking her.

Her brown curls gleamed healthily in the soft moonlight that still ruled the night, which reminded him that he should be in the crow's nest on lookout duty.

He was about to leave, when he caught a light scent of strawberries and watermelon. He looked at the bottle of lotion on her desk and smiled. Their favorite flavors of fruit.

He walked back in, silencing his boots' tread as he came back to the edge of her bed. Lightly and ever so softly, he planted a kiss on her lips. She smiled, unknowingly in her sleep. Zoro grinned and walked back outside, carefully locking the door again as he shut it.  
"and you call me a pervert." Sanji muttered at him. He must have woken up to check on the fridge, in case Luffy somehow picked the lock or something. Zoro sneered at him, and climbed up the mast. Sanji laughed and walked on.

* * *

De-Ji POV

Zoro's eyes were drooping sleepily. De-Ji came walking back with her glass of water, and set down the cup next to where she had been sitting earlier. She stroked the side of his face soothingly, and quietly humming a lullaby.

Zoro looked over at her, then closed his eyes, meaning just to rest them, but he quickly fell asleep, letting De-Ji's soft fingers run over his skin, and her calming humming lull him to sleep. He snored once, and De-Ji giggled softly, and continued her actions.

She loved watching him sleep. She liked the song she was humming too. It was a song from her childhood that she had learned to sing when she was feeling down.

It had a happy tune, and comforting words, it seemed appropriate who she was singing it to. When the tune ended, she tenderly kissed him on the forehead then continued stroking his cheek and her humming.


	9. LuSu Luffy Lost

Suta sat up with a start when the ship collided. With what, she did not know. She ran outside to see the crew looking over the railing to see what they crashed into. She ran over by Luffy and looked over to see land. It was a beach of beautiful white sand, followed by brown dirt with green plants growing everywhere. The island looked deserted.

Suta felt the excitement welling up inside her. Luffy was already dancing around, yelling, "ADVENTURE!!" Suta giggled, then started dancing with Luffy. They were low on supplies, and it was about time they got to an island. Luffy and Suta had eaten almost all of the meat. It was a miracle that they hadn't already eaten all of it.

Luffy jumped off, ignoring Nami's cries about not getting lost. Zoro grunted and leapt off as well, followed by a winged De-Ji. Suta jumped off, and looked around. She felt her heartbeat quicken when she did not see Luffy.

"LUFFY!!" she screamed to unhearing ears. They all looked around, shrugged then walked off. They knew he could take care of himself, and he would find his way back eventually. Suta felt her cheeks wetten. 'strange...' she thought, and looked at the clear blue sky.

"no rain?" she asked herself, then realized tears were streaming steadily out of her blue eyes, which were beginning to search for Luffy again. She ran off in a random direction, the tears creating a trail behind her.

A rustle to her right. She stopped. Slowly moving her head in the direction of the bush that made the rustle, her heart started beating faster and faster. A frog jumped out. She sighed, then kept running.

She heard laughing. It was Luffy's laugh! But she couldn't tell where it was coming from. She stood still, looking all around trying to find the direction of the laugh. Suddenly, she realized that she was lost. She grew scared. She wouldn't be able to find her way back! An animal might find her.. maybe a carnivore!

She shivered, then started running again, but something collided into her side. Luffy laughed as they crashed into the ground. Suta started crying again, still a little scared and from relief as well. Luffy stopped laughing and watched the tears water the bush that they landed on.

"uh... Suta?" he asked nervously. She looked up, her blue eyes now red and puffy. Luffy trusted his intuition and reached up a hand to wipe away a tear.

"I will always protect and take care of you," He said comfortingly. He was surprised at himself, because he had never done this before. Suta smiled. He smiled too, and leaned in close to her.

"You promise?" she asked.

"promise." he answered, then kissed away her fears.


	10. ZoDe Picnic

Zoro woke De-Ji up, and told her to get into a casual, but still pretty dress. Then he left the room, and De-Ji climbed out of her hammock. She shrugged at his decision of what she should wear today, but wanting to please him, found a light green cotton dress with a cute sakura pattern on it. To go along with it, she put on some pink sandals. She then came outside, and gasped at what she saw.

They had landed on an island in the night, and it was covered in trees. Spruces, pines, oaks, and many others that she didn't know were everywhere. It was very pretty, and everybody was already leaving the ship to explore the island. She huffed at them for not waiting, then climbed down and started walking behind Zoro.

After a while, De-Ji wasn't paying attention, and Zoro being Zoro, wandered off into a different direction than everybody else. They were both lost. Zoro of course denied being lost, but De-Ji didn't believe him. Would you? Anyway, they were walking along in the forest for a little while, somewhere around forty-five minutes.

Then, they stumbled upon a clearing. There was a red and black checkered blanket with a wicker picnic basket on it in the middle of the clearing. She then understood his interest of clothing today. They were going on a suprise picnic!

Zoro motioned toward the blanket, and they set forward together. When they reached the blanket, De-Ji carefully sat down on the blanket, being unused to dresses as she was. Zoro sat kitty-cornered to her cross-legged, and smiled a little smile. Her heart pumped faster at seeing him happy, and she reached for the basket.

Zoro reached at the same time, and their hands met on the handle of the basket. Neither pulled back, but Zoro gripped her hand a little harder, but still soft, and pulled his hand back, bringing hers with it. He brought her hand up to his face, and placed his lips on the back of her hand. She beamed, unable to control her facial muscles. Another effect of the lost control were the words coming out of her mouth.

"hey koishii," she said to Zoro's, and her own, suprise. They looked at each other, and Zoro grunted, but not in a harsh way. De-Ji knew what it meant. It meant that he was ok with the nickname.

Then, Zoro reached for the basket again, and took out a couple of paper plates. He handed one to her, and reached in again. This time he brought out two cups and a container of iced tea. He put them down and brought two ham sandwiches out of the basket, along with apples.

De-Ji reached for the tea, and poured them some. She took a sip and realized how thirsty she was. The cold tea tasted so good going down her throat, that the whole cup was gone in a flash, or seemed like it to her. She looked into the empty bottom of the cup, then at Zoro.

Zoro was laughing, and poured her some more tea. She drank this more slowly. Then she picked up the sandwiches and put them on the plates, along with the apples. Zoro took a bite out of his sandwich and looked at De-Ji, who was watching him and looking at her sandwich. Zoro chewed and swallowed. Then De-Ji took a bite out of hers, and there was a look of slight suprise on her face.

"I thought Sanji made different sandwiches than this," and she kept eating it. It was just the way she liked it, a little extra meat, lettuce, tomato, miracle whip, and only a little mustard. Sanji always made all of his the same, all of the ingredients of the same amounts. Don't get her wrong, she still liked them, but there was no individuality in them. Zoro shook his head then said,

"He didn't make them. I did." Then he took another bite and enjoyed the shocked look on his girlfriend's face. She looked down again, and took another bite.

"I didn't know you could make sandwiches." She said after she swallowed.

"There's a lot of hidden talents I have." Zoro said, then took the last bite of his sandwich. De-Ji glared at him, and took a bite out of her half finished sandwich.

"big mouth.." she muttered to herself, then continued eating.

Zoro picked up his apple and slowly chewed it. Then took a swig of tea. De-Ji finished her sandwich quicker than she should have, and started hiccuping. Zoro chuckled and took another bite of apple, earning a halfway glare from De-Ji. She started drinking her tea, and when she stopped, she hiccuped one last time and stopped.

She smiled and took a bite out of her apple, watching Zoro as she chewed. Just taking in his appearance. She hadn't noticed before, but he was wearing a t-shirt with blue jeans. It was a nice look for him, and he looked up at her, and she swiftly moved her gaze to the checkered cloth that she was sitting on. Zoro frowned. He had wanted to look into her eyes. He liked doing that. Then he shook his head. 'What am I thinking?!' he asked himself. 'I'm becoming weak if I'm falling for a girl.' He looked at her again. But she wasn't just a girl. She was HIS girl. He smiled and finished his apple.

She chewed, and felt his gaze upon her. She couldn't feel what he was thinking through his gaze, but she could tell that it wasn't bad. She looked up and saw him. He was watching her, almost like a predator. She shivered from the chills running up and down her back. She didn't want to be hunted like an animal, but she did want him chasing her. Now why was that? she wondered at herself. She shook her head and forgot it.

Out of nowhere, a wet spot appeared on the tip of her nose, and she looked into the sky. Rain started pouring down upon them, and they laughed and ran with each other to the tree line, trying to avoid being soaked. It didn't matter though, they were soaked by the time they made it to the trees. They laughed, and Zoro grabbed her hand and pulled her along. In the haste of trying not to be dragged, she didn't notice where they were going until they were there.

There was a sheer dropoff, almost like a cliff. In the distance, there was a waterfall. De-Ji watched the water tumble down the side of the cliff, and smiled. She sat down on the edge, and Zoro sat with her. De-Ji kicked her feet back and forth, feeling like a small child. Zoro looked over at her and smiled. He chuckled a little and looked back at the waterfall.

She looked at him, and got a sudden urge to kiss him on the cheek. She followed her instinct, then looked quickly back at the waterfall.

Zoro looked at her, and she couldn't supress her giggles, and started laughing. Zoro smiled, and stifled her laughter with a warm, heartfelt kiss that lasted for a few minutes. At least that was what it seemed like, but the rain was starting to stop when they stopped kissing. They glanced at the sky, and started walking back to the ship.


	11. LuSu Suta Tired

Luffy's eyes sparkled in excitement as he danced around, ready for their next game of tag, when Suta collapsed. Luffy's face turned from joy to horror as she fell to the ground. He ran, and caught her right before she hit the floor.

"CHOPPER!! SANJI!!!" Luffy screamed in their general directions. Chopper came running out, and took Suta from Luffy's arms. Sanji nonchalantly came strolling, until he saw Suta on the floor, then started running and crying,

"Suta-swan!" worriedly over and over again. Luffy told him to get meat, and Sanji glared at him.  
"How could you think of eating at a time like this?!" he angrily questioned Luffy. Luffy looked back at him, a little impatient and replied,

"The meat is for Suta! She needs it to get better!" Sanji knocked him on the head and told him,

"It doesn't work that way for everybody!" Chopper transformed into heavy point, and walked off to the Suta's room with her in his arms. Luffy followed, dropping the subject of healing meat with Sanji.

Sanji followed, until they came to the door to Suta's room. He said it wasn't gentleman-like to enter a lady's room without her permission, and then paced outside the door. Luffy didn't care about being gentleman-like when one of his nakama was sick. He followed Chopper in (he could come in because he's a doctor) and sat by Suta's bed.

"She's just fatigued. You were playing too hard with her, and she didn't want to stop because you two were having too much fun together. She isn't super hyper 100 of the time like you, Luffy," Chopper said to him. Luffy nodded, but didn't turn to look at him.

Suta was breathing a little heavily, like a normal person did after running for a while. Luffy shifted his position in the chair nervously, and then moved his posterior to a corner of the bed that Suta's body didn't occupy. She mumbled something, then rolled over, and accidentally knocked Luffy off in the process.

He laughed, and then stopped when he noticed Suta wasn't laughing with him because she was asleep. He sighed and sat back down on the bed.

After about an hour of watching Suta, he began to grow bored, and his eyelids were beginning to get heavy. His head started drooping, and eventually he collapsed on top of Suta, unable to control his body when it's asleep.

In a couple of hours, Suta woke up, and thought, 'I don't remember these blankets being so heavy...' and she pushed them off of her, and heard a thump. Luffy stood up right next to her, and Suta screamed. Luffy put his hand over her mouth, and said,

"You fell asleep after a game of tag, that's why you and me are here!" Suta stopped struggling then asked,

"Then why were you in my bed?" Luffy blushed then said,

"I... accidentally fell asleep while I was waiting for you to wake up." Suta laughed, but was interrupted by her stomach growling. They both laughed then yelled out,

"SANJI!!" Sanji came running in, noodle dancing and asked Suta,

"HAI, SUTA-SWAN??" Suta glared a little at him then said,

"niku! niku!" Luffy started chanting with her, and Sanji rushed out. They looked at each other incredulously, like he didn't expect him to actually go get it, and then laughed.

Sanji came back a few minutes later with meat and water in hand, and gave it to Suta. Luffy watched hungrily as she ate. Suta glanced at him, and saw the hungry look on his face. She swallowed, and then said,

"You can have some if you want, Luffy." Sanji left the room, and Luffy smiled then almost literally tore into the tray of meat. Suta laughed, and started eating again. Luffy and Suta picked up a long piece of meat, but they were both watching what they were eating right in front of them, and their lips collided in the middle of the meat. They blushed, and then pulled back. They laughed, and then continued eating.


	12. ZoDe Pillows

Zoro walked onto the main deck of the Thousand Sunny. De-Ji was lounging happily in the grass, enjoying the perfect amount of sun. Everybody else was inside, because it was slightly too cold for them.

Her eyes were closed, and she was smiling. Zoro's face softened from it's original hardness, but he didn't smile. Not while in danger of some random crewmate walking out and seeing them. Zoro walked across the grass, and saw De-Ji's eyes open. She had heard him walking. Zoro sat down by her, and she beamed a bright smile at him.

"hello!" she welcomed him happily. Zoro liked her smiling. It seemed as if all the troubles of the world melted away in the simple happiness that consumed her.

Zoro grunted at her. She chuckled a little, then lie down on her back, staring up at the puffy clouds that interrupted the baby blue of the sky. She closed her eyes again, and the only sign that she wasn't sleeping and dreaming happy dreams, was that her breathing hadn't slowed.

Zoro looked around, and didn't want to lay his head on the grass. Sanji would tease him about having "grass hair" Zoro saw De-Ji again, and got an idea. He layed his head down on her stomach. She opened her eyes, and saw Zoro laying on her. She blushed a little, then lay her head back down and closed her eyes to daydream.

* * *

De-Ji walked in, and wrinkled her nose in disgust. The room smelled like sweat. She shrugged it off, and went to go sit by Zoro, who was sleeping. She opened the covers of the book she was currently reading, and ran her eyes over the page.

But her mind wasn't focusing on the book. It was focused on watching Zoro out of the corner of her eye. He snored, then turned onto his back. She quietly giggled, then tried to go back to her... "reading".

Her mind refused to focus when Zoro was so close to her.. Their bodies almost touching. She felt her face heating at the unwanted thoughts rampaging through her brain. _Zoro leaned in to kiss her_. She shook her head. _He put his muscled arms around her_. She glared at Zoro, mad at him because he was the cause of these random daydreams. Then she stopped glaring at him, and exhaled slowly.

Zoro's chest moved up and down with the deep breaths running through his lungs in his slumber. De-Ji gave into her emotions, and layed her head on his stomach. She smiled, then closed her eyes and fell asleep.


	13. SanTak AU Fairy Baby

SanTak AU Fairy Baby

Sitting on a flower petal, Takono watched for her husband to come back from the kitchen that he worked in. He cooked the food for the five meals of the day. Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, Supper, and the midnight snack. The midnight snack wasn't officially a meal, but he still had to leave and work. Takono's lower lip drooped as she pouted, impatience kicking in. She sighed, and fell backward onto the petal of the flower she was sitting on, and sighed. 'He takes too long.' She thought to herself, but she knew well that he had to feed all of the fairies in the village, and clean up afterward to boot. She closed her eyes to block the bright sunlight with her eyelids, and felt a light brushing on her feathery wings. She grimaced, and tried to swat away what she thought was a floating piece of dust, but it came back. Getting frustrated, she opened her eyes, ready to yell at it, but saw that It was her husband, Sanji. Her angry faced transformed into a huge smile, and she threw herself at him and hugged him. He caught her in the hug, and kissed her hair.

"Miss me?" he asked, already knowing the answer. Takono pulled a little away, but stayed in his arms.

"I always do." she griped at him, then hugged him again. "but you're back now." She sighed. Sanji smiled, his eye turned into a heart, and a droplet of drool hung onto his lower lip. Takono, glad that he was back after so long, started kissing his neck. Sanji wiped a little trickle of blood from his nose, and pulled Takono's face to his so he could kiss her. She kissed him back, to his pleasure. Sanji put a hand on Takono's shoulder, intending to take off the spaghetti strap that was hanging there, but hesitated. Takono stopped for a second, and nodded, then turned her attention back to his lips. Sanji gently pulled the strap over her shoulder, and...

* * *

The next day, Takono woke up, and her stomach felt weird. She put a hand over the objecting organ, and walked out to see the fairy doctor, a little caterpillar named Chopper. Knocking on the infirmary door, she grimaced and braced herself against the door frame, in case she fell. She felt a little woozy. Chopper opened the door, Looked up at her, suprised, and let her in. Takono sat on one of the cots, and obeyed the doctor's order to lay down gratefully. Chopper crawled over, and asked her what was wrong. She explained her symptoms to him, and he frowned, then poked and prodded at her stomach.

"You're with child." He finally assessed. Takono looked at him with a confused expression on her face, and Chopper sighed and repeated, "you're pregnant." Takono eyes widened in shock, and her mouth dropped open.

"N-No Way!!" She practically screamed at the poor little caterpillar, then ran outside looking for her husband who had gotten her into this mess. She found Sanji cleaning up still in the kitchens, and grabbed his soapy hand and dragged him out of the room where the helpers wouldn't hear. She told him her news, and his face dropped. He looked around, and was relieved that nobody was there.

"really?" He asked her, then caught her as the wooziness caught up with her.

"Proof enough?" she asked. Sanji sighed, then picked her up and carried her to their home, and layed her on the bed. He kissed her, then sat down beside her. Takono watched Sanji, taking in every shift and twitch carefully. Sanji sighed, then smiled at her.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" He asked, still careful. Takono glanced down at her belly, then back up at Sanji.

"I don't know." She whispered to her lover. She wrapped her arms around him, trying to comfort him. She felt his shoulder tense even more, then relaxed when she kissed him. He would never get tired of that. 'I love you Sanji.' Takono breathed into his ear. He would never get tired of that either. He sighed again, then smiled.

* * *

nine months later

* * *

The crying of a newborn was heard throughout the village on a very special day in the lives of Sanji and Takono. Chopper held out the small bundle in his arms and said,

"It's a girl with Takono's pink hair and Sanji's eyebrow," The catepillar informed the parents, who were clutching each other's hands. Sanji smiled down proudly at his young wife, and she smiled at Chopper and the bundle in his arms. Chopper handed Takono the bundle of swaddling clothes, and a little piece dropped off the face of the baby, revealing the swirly brow and pink locks nestled around the chubby face.

A few days later, Takono was in sitting in a chair, holding her baby girl and looking wondrously at the little miracle granted to them from heaven. Sanji smiled down at his beautiful daughter and wife proudly, and noticed out of the corner of his visible eye, a lady with brown curly hair, green eyes, brown wings, and two arms which were wrapped around an arm attached to a big man with green hair, who were standing in the doorway.

"What are you going to name her?" the lady asked. Sanji looked down again, and asked Takono,

"how about Ro-zu?" Takono smiled and agreed with his choice. The lady smiled at the small child, and said,

"Nice to meet you, Ro-zu!" then she stepped aside, revealing a large number of fairies who had shown up to welcome the new baby into their world.


	14. LuSu and ZoDe

LuSu and ZoDe

"_must... defeat... Mihawk..._" Zoro thought to himself as he lifted his heavy weights, emphasizing every word with a lift. De-Ji watched a couple meters away, and frowned at the intense concentration on his face, then her eyes moved down to the soak-drenched shirt that rested on his tiring body. De-Ji sighed, and called his name. He didn't respond. She yelled his name this time, making him flinch and look over at her, pausing for a minute in his weight-lifting.

"Take off your shirt. It's soaked," Zoro looked down at his shirt to see that she was right. He put down the heavy weights and pulled his white shirt over his head, and tossed it at De-Ji. The shirt floated through the air, and landed on De-Ji's face. She pulled it off her face with a grimace, and glared at Zoro, who had taken up his weights again. She took off her shoes, and changed into a hawk (she ate the taka taka no mi), grabbed the shirt and some string, and flew off to a tree to hang the shirt on an improvised clothes line that she had made with the string.

A curious Luffy and Suta had come to watch, and De-Ji laughed then said,

"don't touch it, ok?" They both nodded innocently, but De-Ji knew better. She put the clothes line higher up on the tree, then flew back to Zoro. Luffy and Suta grinned mischievously at each other, and Luffy said,

"Last one to the shirt is a rotten steak!" Suta laughed, then started shimmying up the tree. Luffy stretched his arms, and yelled out,

"GOMU GOMU NO... ROCKET!!!" as he shot up into the air, reaching the same spot on the tree at the same time as Suta. He grabbed the tree, and looked over at Suta, who had put a hand on the rope holding up the shirt. Suta stuck her tongue out at him and grabbed with her other hand, then swung out onto the rope. Luffy grabbed the rope with both hands, and swung out to realize that he couldn't use his rubber powers to get farther faster. Suta laughed, and swung her legs up, trying to make it easier to move along the rope length.

Suta's nose twitched as a wind blew a scent over to her, she grimaced and coughed. It smelled like rank sweat. She looked over at the shirt, noticing for the first time that it was practically dripping with sweat. She grimaced more, then dropped to the ground. Luffy laughed in triumph, reached out and touched the shirt, then dropped down by Suta and laughed with her.

Zoro had stopped lifting his weights, and was spread eagled out on the soft green grass, with little snores coming from him every so often when De-Ji came back. She smiled, then layed her body down kitty-cornered to his and lifted her pointer finger. She inched closer, then placed the finger on the top of his long scar that ran across his muscled chest. Tracing the scar slowly, the pads of her fingers memorizing every bump and stitch of the scar.


	15. Dietrich

SanTak Baby Boy

"oi." Sanji said softly, noticing Takono walking into the kitchen. Takono smiled at him, and sat at the table. Sanji glanced at the pan full of food, decided he could leave it alone for a while, and turned around to place a shoulder on her shoulder. He could tell something was wrong, but not what. Takono looked up at him again, not smiling this time though.  
"what's wrong?" Sanji asked, using his soft voice again. Takono sighed, and rested her head on his hand.

"just having an off day, I guess." Takono said, enjoying the warmth of Sanji's hand.

"I can fix that," Sanji said with a perverted smile painted on his face. Takono opened her eyes to glare at Sanji, hearing the eroness in his voice, then just sighed again. She didn't care, and he knew it. Sanji twirled around, spewing heart shaped smoke. Takono didn't feel like waiting until he was done, so she grabbed his face in her hands, and took the cigarette out of his mouth, and kissed him. Sanji gazed into her green eyes with suprise and perverted pleasure lingering in his own blue eyes. Takono grabbed the first button of Sanji's navy blue jacket, but was stopped from undoing it by a pale hand. "wait," an almost unhearably quiet voice told her. Then, she was swept off her feet and carried into a room, which she recognized as hers and Sanji's. They both glanced at the bed, then at each other...

9 months later

Chopper grimaced as he told Takono, who had her husband's hand in a death grip, and Sanji that their healthy baby boy had long blonde hair, and a normal eyebrow. They both smiled with pride and joy at their newborn son. Chopper handed the tall blonde the small one, and walked out of the room muttering,

"I hate delivering babies.. Gross..." and shut the door. Takono smiled up at Sanji, and grabbed a fold of the soft yellow cloth that their little baby was wrapped in. The door opened again, and they saw a blue eye peeking through a crack in the door. It sparkled, and a muffled

"SUGEHHH!!!" was heard through the wooden door to the infirmary. Suta fell in through the widening crack of the door as Luffy leaned too far and had fallen on top of Suta. They both blushed and stood up, then rushed over to the new parents.

"what are you going to name him?" Luffy and Suta asked simultaniously, eagerly waiting for an answer. Takono looked over at Sanji, and twisted her face into a grimace.

"Kurry wants me to name him Dietrich." Sanji just nodded, still watching his son sucking his thumb and trying futiley to stay awake. Sanji looked down at his wife in the cot that was serving as a makeshift hospital bed, and kissed her. He could teach his little boy so much. How to cook, how to be a gentleman, on and on the ideas swirled through his mind. Takono held out her arms, and Sanji gently placed the small bundle into her arms. Takono gazed at her baby, a smile creeping onto her face again. She kissed Dietrich on the forehead, and held him so Sanji and her could watch him.


	16. AcKu Knight

I do not own One Piece, Ace or Kurry. This is a special requested by De-Ji's friend, Takono. XD enjoy! 

* * *

Kurry stepped off the small yellow boat, followed closely by Ace. Looking around, they didn't see many people, but there was a town, so there had to be more somewhere. They knocked on the door of an inn, intending to stay the night. The innkeeper opened the door slightly, just a crack. Kurry and Ace looked at each other, then Ace said,

"Hi. Got any rooms available?" The innkeeper nodded, and deciding that they were indeed friendly people, undid a few locks that were on the door, and opened the door just enough to let them in. The innkeeper bowed and apologized,

"sorry for not being so welcoming as I should be, but we were recently raided by pirates and everybody is still suspicious." Ace nodded, and looked around. He saw a large moose head above a fire place, which looked like it had caught fire, along with a few pieces of furniture in the same condition. The man's story was true after all. Kurry was looking around as well, and Ace cleared his throat, then spoke to the innkeeper.

"so how about that room?" The innkeeper jumped, surprised that they still wanted to stay at his inn for the night. He scurried over to the desk to sign them in for a room, and was followed. He glanced behind him, still suspicious. He wrote in his scrawl, and looked up to ask for a name to put in, but the man was turned around. Seeing the tattoo on his back, he gasped, but straightened his face as the lady looked at him.

"uh.. Name, please," the innkeeper said, trying not to sound nervous. The man looked around and answered,

"Ace. That's all you need to know." The innkeeper nodded, and wrote in his name. Grabbing the keys to the room, he handed them over the counter, and waited. The lady that was with him grabbed the keys and looked at the number on the key, then headed down the correct hall. The "Ace" guy followed her. Once they were out of sight, the innkeeper sighed and prayed profusely for them to not burn his inn.

Kurry placed the key in the lock and turned. Just as she grasped the handle, A warm body appeared behind her, and she heard Ace's voice saying,

"Sorry I didn't have enough money for two rooms." Kurry sighed and twisted around. She looked up into his dark eyes, and replied,

"We've already been through this. I don't mind sharing a room with you." Ace smiled, and bent down to kiss her. Kurry's heart fluttered in her chest as they kissed, and pushed him back and looked around. "not where everybody can see!" She practically hissed at him. He looked around incredulously at the empty halls, and shrugged as Kurry walked into their room. Kurry walked in and sat on the bed. Ace watched her, and sat by her when she patted the space by her on the clean sheets. Kurry glared at the open door, got up and shut it, then came back and sat down by Ace again. Grinning, Kurry leaned over and kissed Ace. Ace, suprised at first, kissed her back. Running a hand over her smooth cheeks, he gently lowered her onto the single bed that was in the room, and...

Nine Months Later

"PUSH!!" that annoying doctor called again to Kurry, as she strained. Ace was pacing nervously back and forth just outside of the room. "I can nearly see the head!" The doctor told her, and Kurry screamed and pushed her hardest, and received the sound of a baby crying as a prize. Ace stopped pacing, and stared at the door. Ace didn't care if he ridden with, his baby would be strong enough to fight them off, and burst through the door. A proud smile creeped onto Ace's face when he saw Kurry holding a small white bundle, which was making small gurgling noises. Ace strode across the length of the room with his long legs, and gazed into the wrinkles of cloth. A small boy with green hair and freckles blinked up at him. The grin turned into a smile that threatened to break his face in half as he watched his new son. Kurry rocked her new child, and said,

"Let's name him Knight." Ace nodded, still entranced by the baby. Kurry fixed her eyes on Knight's little face, which was giving into the exhaustion from being born. Kurry's eyes widened when Ace's lips attached themselves to hers, then closed as she relaxed.

"eww.." the doctor muttered as he left the room.


	17. LuSu Salad Fingers

Suta heard a ringing of the doorbell. She ran to the door to answer it, and heard a strange scraping. She opened the door, wondering who could be visiting them. A green-skinned man with large red eyes, yellow sharp teeth, and wearing a green shirt was standing just outside of the doorway. His eyes looked over her, then his mouth opened to say,  
"I like rusty spoons." Suta ran and jumped into the next room, and landed in Luffy's arms. She quivered in fear as Luffy reacted.  
"na?" he asked, then titled his head questioningly. Suta was staring at the door, and Luffy looked up. The green man/thing was walking in, looking around.  
"Might I inquire, as to where you keep your spoons?" it asked. Luffy's eyes glazed over, then sparkled excitedly, and he yelled,  
"SUGEEHHH!!" It shrank back, but continued to watch them. Suta was still shivering, and Luffy looked down at her. Luffy put Suta down on her feet carefully, then started stretching his muscles.

"you wanna fight?" It shook it's head, then asked again,

"where are your spoons?" Luffy paused, then stopped.  
He pointed to the kitchen. It walked in it's funny little way through the door, and Luffy followed it. As soon as it was in the kitchen, it made a happy noise then walked over to the spigot. It placed it's pointer finger on the spigot, and made a disappointed noise. Luffy watched it, wondering what it was doing, and it walked over to a drawer and opened it.  
"no spoons here." it moved to the next one, and opened it. The drawer was full of utensils. It grinned, then frowned when it realized that there were no rusty spoons. "I see. Then I must leave, but first, do you have anything rusty?" Luffy shook his head no, it sighed a most sad sigh, then walked out of the house. Suta was sitting in the corner, watching it fearfully the whole time.  
"He scares me." She whispered to Luffy. Luffy sat down next to her, and put his arms around her.  
"He's gone now." He whispered back to her. Then, ever so slowly, he inched his face closer to hers. Closer, closer. Then, their lips met.


	18. DeJi's Birthday

* * *

Sorry for it being late! De-Ji's actual birthday is April 26, but I forgot to put this up! T.T

* * *

De-Ji sighed as she impatiently waited for her birthday cake to be ready. She then closed her eyes, and told herself to be patient, and that it would be done when it was done. Her only regret with her cake was that the baka-cook, Sanji, was making it. Then again, she didn't want to have to pay Nami for it, and nobody else was able to make one. She decided to walk around to distract her from her cake, and ended up just walking in circles around the kitchen. She wanted to scream in frustration. Then she did scream, but this was from surprise, not frustration. Zoro had wrapped his arms around De-Ji and was softly singing happy birthday to her. When she had screamed, he chuckled and put his head on her shoulder. De-Ji forgot totally about her cake and relaxed as her boyfriend began massaging her back, not to mention kissing her neck. She blushed furiously, and spun around.

"Zoro..." she gasped as she saw him. He was dressed in a black suit with a green shirt, and matching green tie. She was so speechless, that Zoro frowned and she gave a start.

"You look very handsome, koishii." She whispered close to his ear. He smiled, and whispered to her, "aishiteru, koishii." after he had finished with his heartwarming sentence, he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her gently. He grinned pleasedly when she sighed happily.

"aishiteru too..." she chuckled against his broad, strong chest. He wrapped her tighter in his arms, and they stood there for a while, until a certain hyper, hungry someone came running past to go check on the cake. Zoro let go, and started walking toward the kitchen. He stopped when he sensed that she wasn't close enough though, and looked behind him. De-Ji was standing there, with a slightly gloomy face at being interrupted, but smiled again as she remembered her cake, and started walking toward Zoro. She smiled wider, and started sprinting at him, and collided with him only after a few steps, and whispered to herself and partly to Zoro, ' Never leave me, koishii.' She didn't mean for him to hear her, but she looked up in suprise when he whispered,

"You think I could?" He looked down at her, and then turned away again to check on the cake. De-Ji sighed happily again (author's note: she's sighing a lot in this!) and followed Zoro. When they got to the kitchen, Zoro was wearing his grumpy face again, and stole a fingertip of icing from the top of the meter-high cake. De-Ji gasped at the size and detail on the cake, and everybody started singing to her. Everybody except Zoro, that is. He had already told her. When they were done, she closed her eyes, and wished that Zoro could make his dream come true, and blew out the candles. She knew he could do it himself, but a little extra help couldn't hurt. Luffy then handed her a fork, and Sanji held him back from taking the whole thing, and De-Ji took a bite. Nothing she had ever eaten had been so sweet, but not too sweet at the same time. She glared at Sanji, a little jealous. She hated him, but she had to admit he was a good cook. She then nodded, and the cake seemed to explode as Suta and Luffy dived in and started eating as fast as they could go. Zoro

wiped a little off of his shirt, and put it in his mouth. He looked at De-Ji, and when she smiled at him, they left the chaotic kitchen to go somewhere else and spend her birthday alone together. When they were officially far enough from the crew, Zoro took a little piece of cake that had been resting on his shoulder, and put it in De-Ji's mouth. De-Ji chuckled happily as she chewed, and took a little from his marimo hair, and fed it to him. He laughed out loud when he had finished chewing, and said it tasted like shampoo. De-Ji laughed harder than she had for a long time. When it was at the end of the sunset, Zoro was snoring, and De-Ji put her hand in his favorite spot, it was right above the curve in his torso. She rubbed it gently, and he woke up and smiled at her. Then he sat up a little and put his arm around her waist, and his other hand in the curve in her side. She made a weird little noise, a happy one, and Zoro chuckled, and rubbed it like she had with him. She looked at him warningly, but couldn't keep up the look and finally collapsed in his arms. He smiled down at her, a little menacingly because of his constantly grumpy face. De-Ji closed her eyes, and thought, 'so this is what bliss is...' then her eyes popped open when she felt Zoro's lips press against hers, and closed them when Zoro opened his. When he was done kissing her, she felt his head slide along her cheek, and she could hear his soft, but yet gruff breathing, in her ear. His cheek was

soft, but not too soft, like a girl's. She ran her hand up his side, and placed it on top of his muscular shoulder. She opened her eyes finally to find that he had been smiling too. She smiled wider when she saw one of his rare smiles. His dark eyes were peering into her green swirly eyes, and she wondered what he was really seeing. She was a little saddened when the wonderfully dark, complicated eyes closed, but was happy again as Zoro put his head on her shoulder.

The End


	19. Luffy's Birthday

Luffy stared at his suit in defiance. He couldn't figure out how to put it on. Sanji chuckled and asked,

"need help?" Luffy looked over at the more experienced man, and nodded hopelessly. Sanji moved forward, remembering the first time he had tried putting on his suit. He had the hardest time until that old geezer had helped him. Luffy's lower lip was hanging over his chin, and he was making a really pitiful face as he held out his arms for help. Sanji shook his head as he unbuttoned the shirt. Was anybody really that dense? At least he had known to unbutton the shirt before trying to put it on. He held the shirt out to Luffy, to have him try again. Luffy put it on, and did up the buttons, smiling. Luffy reached for the jacket-like part of the suit, but Sanji stopped him. "You need to tuck in your shirt and put on the tie first, Luffy." Luffy pouted a little again and groaned,

"I thought we were done. This is boooorinngg..." Sanji pointed at his shirt tails and answered,

"the faster you put it on, the faster it'll be done, and you can leave." Luffy glared at the shirt tails, and tucked them in. Sanji handed him the matching tie and watched him tying knots in it. "Do you even know how to tie a tie?" Luffy looked up and shook his head. Sanji sighed, and grabbed the tie back. He should have known. Sanji untied all the knots, careful to not rip the tie or wrinkle it. He didn't even bother wasting the time to try to teach him the special knot, and looped it around his neck and tied it, occasionally telling Luffy not to squirm so much. Luffy reached out for the last piece of the suit, and looked to Sanji for guidance. Sanji nodded, and Luffy practically ripped the sleeve off putting the thing on. He was finally done!

In her room, Suta wriggled back out of her dress. It looked so simple! Getting frustrated, she opened the door to get Nami, and realized she didn't have much on. Blushing furiously, she jumped back inside and slammed the door. A knock was heard, and Suta peeked out, careful not to show anything.

"Having trouble?" Nami asked. Suta nodded sullenly. Nami giggled a little and came in. Picking up the dress, she commented on how pretty it was, then untied the string in the back. She told Suta to put on her tights while she figured out the dress. It was a little different, but elegant all the same. Suta put her foot in one of the leggings and pushed her foot through the close fitting tube of nylon. Nami twirled the dress around for a little bit while Suta finished, and smiled in triumph. There was another zipper down the side. It was hard to see, and Nami unzipped it, but stopped when she heard Suta gasp.

"YOU RIPPED IT!" She yelled at the orange-haired lady, and lunged for the dress. Nami reflexed, and pulled the dress up, leaving Suta sprawling onto the floor. Nami held her down with her foot and explained,

"I didn't rip it, It's a zipper." Unzipping it the

rest of the way, she continued, "see?" Suta glared at her from the floor, but nodded. Nami took her foot off, and Suta got up and looked at the dress again. Turning around, she took off her top and let Nami slip the dress over her head, and turned around. Reaching for the zipper, she couldn't quite get it. It was in a difficult spot. Deciding she could get it later, she reached for the other zipper and got that one halfway done. She turned to Nami and pouted. Nami sighed and reached for the zipper in the back, and smoothly moved it up all the way. Grabbing Suta's shoulder, she turned her so she could get the other zipper, and zipped it up. Suta smiled, then rushed over to do her makeup and hair. Nami slipped out of the room, giving

pointers the whole while.

Later that night, Luffy and Suta sat opposite of each other at an oak table in a fancy restaurant. A bald waiter came by every so often to check up on them, and would walk away nonchalantly whenever they answered. They had ordered their drinks and were sipping on them and fidgeting, not exactly knowing what to do. Waiting for the butler to pass again, Luffy took a sip of his drink and watched the people around him, his mind racing. 'how do people do this?' The waitress walked by carrying a huge plate of food, and Luffy swallowed. Partially from being hungry, partially because his throat felt dry from nervousy.

"S..Suta?" Luffy asked her, while Suta looked at him with a curious expression on her face, making it still harder to spit it out. "do you.. well since it's my birthday.. WANNA KISS?!" he finally blurted out, then blushed when he noticed how loud he said it. Suta's mouth almost dropped open, and the butler came walking by again, asking the same question, but not noticing what was going on because his eyes were squinched shut. Luffy hurriedly answered that they were fine, and almost collapsed with relief when he left. Suta was peering into her cup, and almost splashed some on herself. Unfortunately, it landed on her seat and she stood up so it wouldn't soak into her dress. She looked around for another chair, but they were all occupied. The only place to sit was Luffy's lap. So, tentavely, she walked toward Luffy and sat on him. Luffy blushed harder, and said, "Suta..." The butler came back with apple juice and food on his tray, and asked,

"Anything else I can get you?" Suta gladly took the distraction and turned around and said,

"oh look! The food's here!" She grabbed off some of the food and started eating. Luffy, getting a little frustrated, took some and started eating too. It was his birthday though, he should get a kiss from her. When the food was gone, Luffy turned her head and looked into her eyes. Suta looked back into his, having already forgotten what he wanted. Luffy glanced around a little, then pulled her head closer to his. Blinking slowly, he leaned forward, making their lips meet. Luffy closed his eyes and relaxed a little, but his mind was bouncing off the walls. Her lips were soft. And so warm. Breaking away, he opened his eyes again to see a beautiful blushing Suta.


	20. LuSu Proposal

This is just hypothetical, Luffy and Suta are not actually engaged

* * *

Suta headed off to her shower, and Luffy headed off to the kitchen since he still couldn't find his radio. He opened the door, and smiled at Sanji, who was in the middle of preparing breakfast. Luffy leaped to try and get the bacon that was sizzling in the pan, but was stopped by a black shoe in his face. Luffy's arms fell to his sides after snapping back from where they were propelled by his inertia, then he fell to the floor, with an imprint of Sanji's sole still in his face. He got up and walked to the table and sat down. Sanji returned to his cooking, and smoke from his cigarette curled lazily into the air of the kitchen. Luffy traced the knots on the wooden table, and stretched out his lower lip into a pouty face. Sanji glanced backward at him, and gazed at the bacon, sizzling in the grease that it was cooking in. Then, he looked at Luffy again, and said sarcastically,

"So Luffy, when are you going to propose?" Luffy looked up with a look of confusion and curiosity on his boyish face, and Sanji sighed. He should have known Luffy wouldn't know anything about that.

"Going to what?" Luffy asked, trying to glean an answer out of him. Sanji glared at Luffy in his ignorance, and finally replied,

"It's asking somebody to marry you." Luffy's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, and his lower jaw dropped to the table. Then came the questions of every detail, good and bad side of marriage and proposals. Then came the other questions, the questions about babies. "Whoa! Slow down!" exclaimed Sanji through the endless torrent of queries. Sanji then explained everything. Well, everything but the babies part anyway. He figured he could wait on that. Luffy sat and thought quietly for a minute, then ran outside. Not caring what the captain did, Sanji went back to his bacon.

Luffy on the other hand, scurried outside. Luckily, Suta was still in the shower. Luffy scurried up to Zoro's room, which was the crow's nest. He slammed open the door, and laughed when Zoro and De-Ji jumped up, brandishing weapons. Glaring at Luffy, they sat back and watched him. He shifted from one foot to the other.

"Zoro, where do you buy diamonds?" Luffy asked. Zoro's eyebrows seemed like they wanted to float off his forehead when he heard the question, and answered,

"A jewelry store, why?" ending with a question. Luffy blushed and looked down, and drew little scribbles in the dirt around his feet.

"noreasonbyeandthanks!" Luffy responded so fast you almost couldn't tell what he said, then literally jumped out of the crow's nest. Landing with a "thud" that sent the Going Merry rocking, he bounced a couple of times, then spotted Nami coming out of her room to beat him up for practically making the ship sink.

"NAMI NAMI NAMI!!" He shouted at her as he ran towards her. Caught off guard, Nami took a step backward, then lost her balance and fell. Luffy stopped just in time, but his balance was thrown off from stopping so fast, and he fell on top of her. Nami pushed him off and whacked him in the back of the head, then stood up and straightened her short skirt and shirt. Luffy rubbed the back of his head then stood up. Sighing, Nami asked,

"What do you want Luffy?" Luffy, still rubbing the back of his head, looked at her funnily. Groaning, Nami said, "Don't tell me you forgot." Luffy shrugged, and scratched his head. Nami glared at Luffy then turned around to walk off, but was stopped by a

"WAIT!! I remember!" and a giggle. Rubbing his head from the third hit that morning, he inquired, "how long until the next island?" A little surprised, Nami answered,

"at least a week. Why do you ask?" getting a Luffy reaction, she stomped back into her room. The Luffy reaction she received was,

"A WEEK?! I CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG!!" along with running in circles. Falling to the ground, he saw a washer roll by. Probably one from where Usopp was working on one of his inventions. Luffy blinked at it, looked over at Usopp, then picked it up and scrambled off with it when he was sure that Usopp hadn't noticed. _Usopp probably had tons of extras anyway, and he was the captain, plus pirates stole whatever they wanted_, he was telling himself.

Suta poked her head out of the bathroom and looked around, making sure nobody was there to see her come out of the bathroom with only a towel on. Luffy was coming around the corner looking at the washer in his hand, and saw Suta before she saw him, or so he thought. He didn't know why, but he ducked down behind a corner and hid. Suta grinned, and then ran out to go to the women's quarters. Luffy sighed in relief, and put the washer in his pocket.

Suta skidded on the wet wood, then turned around fast and slammed the door, and locked the door. Hoping nobody saw her, she gazed at the mirror and glared at what she saw. Turning around and letting her towel drop, she reached for her drawer and pulled out some clothes. Feeling like a little fancier clothes, she pulled out a mini skirt with a different kind of pattern and a spaghetti strap top with the same pattern, but a with a corresponding color. Feeling still a tiny bit underdressed, she reached into Robin's jewelry box and pulled out her favorite necklace. It was a gold chain with a blown glass rose. It was a shame that Robin never wore it, but she couldn't complain that Robin had let her borrow it whenever she wanted. Putting on some white sandals, she looked into the mirror and thought to herself as she combed through her hair. Why had Luffy hidden from her? Was he doing something wrong? Or worse, had she done something wrong? Grumbling, she put the comb down and headed outside to play with Luffy, if he didn't hide from her that time anyway. Seeing Luffy sulking on Merry's head, she ran up to him.

"Luffy!" Jumping at her voice, Luffy turned around and smiled. Suta thought Luffy's face would break if he kept that face for long, rubber or not. Tapping Luffy where she could reach him, she said,

"tag!" and ran off. Looking back to see if he was running after her was a mistake, because it slowed her down, and Luffy was indeed chasing her. Luffy grabbed her arm, and Suta glanced at him and stopped running. Luffy opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but sighed and said the familiar line,

"tag," in an almost disappointed voice. Luffy smiled, berating himself inside for not being able to know what to say or how to ask her to marry him.

The next day, when Suta was taking her shower again, Luffy went to Sanji for advice. Sanji was cooking breakfast as usual, but it was pancakes and eggs today. Luffy sat down at the table, and went right to the point.

"Sanji, how do you ask someone to marry you?" Sanji turned around to stare. Luffy was asking him _this_? That was unexpected. Sanji fumbled with his tied up tongue for a moment, then answered tensely,

"Well, Luffy. Uh, you get on one knee, say her full name, then say, 'will you marry me?' or 'will you become (insert girl's first name here) (insert your last name here)'" Luffy watched silently, even attentively until the end, when he grinned, thanked Sanji swiftly again, left, but came running back.

"When?" Sanji was kind of expecting this, so he replied suavely,

"Usually after a nice restaurant date." Luffy nodded, then ran out again, pausing only to smell the aroma of the pancakes and eggs. Luffy ran to Franky's room, which was full of scrap wood and metal and almost looked like Usopp's workshop with hammers and wrenches and tools of that sort. Luffy stepped carefully around the junk on the floor until he found Franky amongst the mess. Franky looked up at him from a current project, and quickly hid it behind his body. He didn't like giving away secrets before he was ready to. Luffy's eyes brightened when they connected with Franky's, and he requested,

"Can you set up a nice dinner for me and Suta today?" Franky looked at him like he was crazy, and answered,

"Not today, but tomorrow I can." Luffy grinned and thanked him, and sped out. "WAIT!!" Franky called to him, then continued, "you'll have to keep Suta busy while I work." Luffy nodded, then sped off again, leaving Franky gathering the right size pieces of wood and "ingredients" for the big night. Luffy rapidly came back to the kitchen and banged open the door, making Sanji jump and kick him in the face, also earning a warning not to break the door. Luffy gave him a sorry glance, then beamed again with a pleading look in his eyes. Rolling his eyes, Sanji asked what he wanted this time.

"Can you make Suta and I a nice dinner tomorrow night?" The eager captain questioned. Sanji nodded, and went back to his cooking, which was almost ready.

"Suta had better hurry if she wants a warm breakfast," Sanji mumbled to himself, and as if she had heard him, Suta ran through the door almost as fast as Luffy and sat at her usual spot, banging her silverware on the table. Luffy grinned again and joined her, chanting,

"MESHI, MESHI, MESHI," and so on and so forth. As soon as everybody came to the table, Sanji set down the food, and let them all go at it in their free-for-all way, which was the result of Luffy, and now Suta, trying to cram everything into their mouths at once. Sanji sighed, then sat by Nami and started eating little tidbits that he actually got to his mouth. He whispered in Nami's ear that he would make something for her later, making her smile. He could feel his eyes turn to hearts as happiness filled his heart to overflowing.

Luffy and Suta, once they had devoured every piece of food in sight, ran outside for their morning game of tag while everybody else dodged them to resume their activities.

The rest of the day transpired similarly to all others; Zoro and De-Ji together, Sanji making snacks for all the girls on board, Nami and Robin working on their books and maps, Franky spending his time in his workshop working on his next project, Usopp was telling stories to Chopper, Brook was tuning his violin, and of course Luffy and Suta were playing games together.

As evening fell, everybody separated and went their separate ways (if they weren't already separated, that is XD) as the darkness closed in slowly. A carving-covered folding table was brought up as sunset was setting in, and food was meticulously prepared and brought out to the table, and was set with a lacy white tablecloth, candles, and the food was made to look like sculptures. When Sanji was done setting it up, he looked out at the sunset and remarked to himself quietly that it was a nice night for such an event. He blew out smoke from his mouth and watched it curl into the sky until it drifted out to oblivion, then took his cigarette and lit the wicks of the candles, to give it more of a personal touch. When he was ready, he whistled to Luffy. Luffy looked over at him and smiled, then caught Suta and pointed toward the table. Sanji moved away to make Robin that coffee she asked for.

Luffy came up to the table, and avoided somehow to wash it all away with the stream of drool that was threatening to burst from his oral cavity. Suta came up and started complimenting everything. After she admired it for a little longer, then sat at one of the chairs. Luffy took the other seat, and caught a flash of yellow around the corner behind Suta's head. Sanji was watching the two to make sure it went ok. He had already had to correct Zoro's proposal.

Suta started eating, gobbling down everything on her plate so fast it was hard to believe that she tasted it. Luffy picked at his food nervously, and Suta stared at him. This was unlike him. She frowned, and swallowed again.

"Something wrong, Luffy?" He looked up and blushed. He glanced at Sanji, and fingered the washer in his pocket.

"Uh.. I wanted to ask you something!" he hesitated, then blurted out.

"ok.. what was it?" Suta asked him, a little worried from the anxious appearance to his face. She caught him looking past her, and looked behind her, but only saw the corner that Sanji had dodged behind at the last second. Luffy took the washer out and looked from it to Suta. She watched him curiously, then jumped when he shouted out, with tears spurting from his eyes,

"I FORGOT MY LINES!! SANJI HELP!!" Sanji peeked out from behind the corner and sighed, then walked out since the secret was spoiled. He walked over to Luffy and demonstrated with an imaginary Nami. Luffy copied him, flustered and imperfect. Suta squirmed until he was finished, then glomped him and kissed him over and over again yelling 'yes' in between kissed. Luffy was grinning, then he grabbed her head to hold it in place, then planted a kiss like a flower in the ground.


	21. ZoDe Warmth

De-Ji shivered, refusing to admit it was cold. Zoro watched her, but didn't know what to do. It was cold, but Luffy and Suta had taken all of the blankets. Besides, if she said it wasn't cold, then she must not want anything. He shrugged, and tried to sleep. De-Ji's teeth were chattering, and the noise was keeping Zoro awake. He glared at De-Ji, then his face straightened when he saw her. She was sitting in the corner, rolled up into the fetal position, and rubbing her arms to try and keep them warm. She saw Zoro watching her, then pushed out her legs, and made her arms stop moving. She faked a smile at Zoro, and tried to not shiver. Zoro shook his head, then climbed down the mast. He had to find a coat or blanket somewhere.  
De-Ji transformed into a hawk as soon as Zoro left. Her feathers were warm. She kept listening for Zoro's footsteps, in case he came back. She didn't want to look weak in front of him, or anybody for that matter. Her feet were cold, so she wrapped her wings around her body and stuck her head into the little fort, but kept an ear out so she could keep listening.  
Zoro wandered around for a little bit, unsuccessfully finding anything warm. He finally got fed up, and stalked over to Luffy and Suta. They were in a fort of blankets and chairs in the kitchen. They had at least 2 extra blankets that they didn't need. Zoro took one off the top of the fort, and Luffy and Suta didn't even notice. He chuckled, then left, hurrying to get to De-Ji before she froze to death. Then he started climbing up the mast.  
De-Ji heard him coming, and changed back really quick and straightened her body out so it wouldn't look like she was cold, then pretended to not be aware that he was coming.  
Zoro opened the door and walked inside. De-Ji was sitting, but she had been looking at the door. 'she heard me coming' he thought to himself. Then he saw a feather near De-Ji. The ceiling prevented birds from coming in, so it must have come from her. He chuckled in his head, knowing that she was cold. Taking the blanket off of his shoulders, he tied it there when he was climbing up the mast, he carefully placed it on top of De-Ji. He watched her carefully, still a little unsure of what to do. De-Ji smiled for a second, then looked up at him and straightened her face.  
"I didn't need this, you know." She said to him. 'so stubborn...' he thought to himself. He stood there a little longer, then decided. He sat down, and scooched over under the blanket with De-Ji. It was a little warm under it, but not enough. De-Ji was warm, and he had to admit, it was cold. Soon it warmed up to a toasty temperature under the blanket, and Zoro was a little tired, so he took a light snooze.  
De-Ji watched Zoro as he slept. She smiled at him, and chuckled a little. Even he was cold, it seemed.  
"thanks." She whispered softly to Zoro. She ruffled his hair a little, then kissed his temple. She was so glad he was asleep. She snuggled closer to him, enjoying the warmth, and fell asleep on his shoulder.


	22. ZoDe Can't We Just Be Alone?

Zoro walked along a river bank that was on a deserted island

Zoro walked along a river bank that was on a deserted island. He had wandered off, growing bored of De-Ji and Robin's theories on why it was abandoned, along with Sanji trying to order him to gather fruits or vegetables, not to mention every one else goofing off. He had hoped that Franky would have been a good influence, being an adult and all, but no such luck. Not Even Brooke was much help when it came to maturity. Why did Luffy always pick the always optimistic people? He grunted and kicked a rock. It was probably because he was so freaking happy all the time. A cold wind blew by him. It was a fall island, with the air a little more than nippy, making goosebumps stand out on his arms. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something small and white twitch slightly. He whirled around, two of his katana out already. He slashed almost blindly to kill the bugger who dared attack him. A daisy fell onto the browning grass. He rolled his eyes and turned to start walking again, but paused. De-Ji liked daisies. They were her namesake, after all. He picked up the cute flower and turned it over. He didn't know how girls liked these things, but De-Ji only liked a certain few flowers. Shrugging, he held the blossom loosely in between his fingers, twirling it every so often.

After a while of walking some more, it registered in his head that he couldn't hear anybody anymore. They probably had headed back toward the Thousand Sunny. He spun around and started walking a little faster than he had been. He wandered through a little grove of trees, tearing up grass and dirt with his heavy boots. He saw all sorts of plants, even some small berries that looked tasty, but who knew whether they were poisonous or not. He passed them by, rejecting the idea to taste them. He walked by a little patch of blue flowers, almost choking on the strong aroma they gave off. What was with this island's plants? They were random and sometimes unpleasant. Grumbling, he put his hand over his mouth and nose to protect them from the overwhelming sweet smell. He stepped over the flowers and out of the grove. There was the Sunny go! Glad he hadn't gotten lost this time, he walked quickly along to the ship. Sure enough, everybody was walking toward the ship. De-Ji was talking to Robin, but was looking around, like she was missing something. He watched her curiously. Could it be him? He sped up slightly, almost to a trot. De-Ji couldn't hear him due to the soft grass that was padding his footfalls. She frowned, then smiled and turned to Robin again to keep their conversation alive. Zoro sprinted to the back of the group, who was too busy to notice him, and silently followed the rest of the way to the ship.

Once at the ship, Zoro followed De-Ji, silencing his boots' tread on the wood. They made small enough sounds that De-Ji might not notice them in her little world that she was in. Her imagination had taken over reality, and she was imagining where Zoro might. Expressions flitted across her face almost to fast for him to read them. He started walking toward her, but Luffy and Suta ran by, screaming. De-Ji turned around to tease them, and saw Zoro. A sharp intake of breath from relief and joy confirmed that she had seen him. He walked toward her, and she trotted to him, throwing her arms out to glomp him. He slowed down to soften the impact. She collided into him, smothering her face in his shirt. She breathed in deeply, and wrapped her arms around his torso, and her short fingers gripping the cloth on his back. She pulled her face out of his shirt to smile up at him, and then backed off a little. Her smile abated slightly into a grin of contentment. He smiled inwardly. She slowly unbound her arms from around him, then turned around to start heading toward the mast. Her caught her by an arm, and pulled her back to him until she was softly pressed against him. She turned around to look up at him questioningly. An edge of his mouth quirked up. He brought out the slightly disheveled flower from behind his back and placed it gently into her hand. She gazed down at it with a tiny smile with surprise woven into it. She lifted it up to her face, under her minutely freckled nose and inhaled the placid smell, and the smile grew until her lips revealed the pearly whites that were encompassed in her mouth. He rested his head on hers, and slid his face over her hair to temple, then opened his eyes to catch Nami watching them over her maps. Why would she be doing that? Then he noticed a bulge in the paper. It was a camera. She was going to blackmail him or something. De-Ji looked from him to Nami, wondering what was going on. She knew enough that they should leave. Zoro released his loose-fitting grip from around her arm, then walked off. De-Ji watched his graceful stride for a second or two, then followed him, smelling the daisy again. Zoro turned suddenly into a corner. De-Ji ran into him, unable to stop herself from the speed she had adopted to catch up to him. He caught her before she could rebound away from him, and possibly fall over. She exhaled into his shirt, spreading heat over his chest. She looked up at him.

"Now where were we?" She asked playfully, and reached up and traced his face from his left temple to his lips. His angry face softened and lowered to her level. His dark grey eyes studied hers, then flickered to something behind her. His face immediately hardened again, and he straightened just in time for Usopp to run by, yelling for Franky. De-Ji tensed, ready to turn and yell at him, but he hadn't seen them and had kept running. There was no point in yelling now anyway. She lowered her face and grimaced, then stood out of the way so Zoro could find them a new spot. He glared in Usopp's direction, then pushed himself out of the corner. He started walking, keeping his eyes peeled for a new spot. He circled around the ship, stopping when he spotted Franky and Usopp arguing loudly over something. He stopped just before where the ship turned so that they were out of view.

De-Ji walked on, intending to stop behind Zoro and put her arms around him, but he put out an arm for her stop moving. He turned around with a little bit of an evil grin on his face, which soon turned to confusion when he saw her so far away from him. He gestured to her to come closer to him, which she did after a little hesitation.

"Why were you so far behind me?" Zoro whispered to De-Ji. She blinked with a confused expression on her face, then answered quietly,

"I thought you wanted me to. When you put out your arm, I thought you wanted me to stop." Zoro's eyebrow raised, remembering why he had gestured thus.

"I just wanted you to stop before you went into plain view for everyone to see," he informed her in a hushed voice. A grin of understanding of her own stupidity came over her face and she scooted a little closer and grabbed an arm. Her cool fingers around his upper arm made him shudder for a second, then he turned and placed a calloused hand over her cheek, then traced her face upward and into her hair. Her eyelids flitted, and her lips partially opened. She had stopped breathing momentarily. His eyes half-closed and he tipped his head forward to kiss her, but he stopped when shouting came closer. Franky ran by screaming, followed closely by a yelling Usopp. Zoro jumped away from De-Ji as they rounded the corner. De-Ji just barely jumped out of the way in time for them to avoid running her over. Franky was carrying some tools and other objects, and Usopp kept reaching for them. De-JI and Zoro watched them pass by and grumbled. Couldn't they be left alone? It was always so difficult to be alone on such a small ship…

De-Ji sighed, then walked off. Maybe they could find a secluded spot somewhere. She ticked off possible rooms one by one. The kitchen had Sanji in it, The quarters usually had people in them, storage rooms would just be weird, and they sat all day every day in the crow's nest. They needed somewhere new, but where? She shrugged and just looked for somewhere quiet. Nami was in the dining room, chatting with Sanji who was in the kitchen making snacks, So she walked to the women's quarters, and found Robin engulfed in a book. She walked outside and headed to the swing to see Luffy and Suta taking turns jumping off the swing at the highest apex. De-Ji bit her lip and moved on. She didn't even try the sick bay. She found a room that she didn't remember seeing, and so she stepped inside. Brooke had been playing his violin, but stopped and greeted her as soon as the door was fully opened. She grinned and greeted him back, then apologized for interrupting him and shut the door before he could answer and drag her into a full-blown conversation. Then something clicked in her mind. Nami was in the dining room, which meant her map-room was empty. She smiled and turned to Zoro. Zoro tilted his head, curious why she was smiling so bright. Unexpectedly, she grabbed his hand and started running. Zoro grabbed his katana to make sure none fell or something, then started watching where they were going. He usually never went this way, because Nami was usually around here, and he liked to avoid getting hit for some stupid reason that might not even be his fault. He dodged quickly, almost hitting a wall and gave De-Ji a little bit of a dirty look. She screeched to a halt in front of a door, leaving Zoro to stop suddenly. His eyes widened because he knew he couldn't stop in time. They were going to collide! KRASH!

Zoro got up off of De-Ji and asked her if she was ok. She nodded and lightly smacked his chest for punishment. Then she laughed as he rolled off of her. He stood up and fumbled a little with his katana to make sure they were ok too. No damage. De-Ji first pushed herself to her knees, then to her feet and brushed off some dirt off of her denim kapris and baby tee. Then she pushed lightly on Zoro to get him to move back a little, then grabbed the doorknob and turned. She shot a beaming smile at Zoro then pushed the door open.

Maps hung everywhere in the dimly lit room, held up on strings by little wooden clips. They swayed gently in the air as the ship moved on the waves. There was a desk and a chair, and many tools, most of which were unfamiliar to both of them. Zoro flipped on a switch and blinked. The new lights that Franky had installed still shocked him a little by how bright they were sometimes. De-Ji looked around, then shut the door and turned the lock. She couldn't help but smile at the little clicking sound it made as it latched into place. She whirled around and found Zoro right in front of her, his metal and organic scent filled her mind. She licked her lips and looked up at Zoro. He was looking down at her and breathing slowly. His warm breath washed over her face. It smelled like him. His own scent. She breathed it in, wanting to memorize it so she could never forget. Zoro watched her and the almost cool breath that exited those plump red lips that had drove him crazy so many times brushed past his face and through his hair and jingled his earrings. He fought the urge to look down at the floor. Was he floating? He couldn't be. De-Ji now knew what a balloon felt like. Her shoulders lowered, relaxed. She hadn't even known she had been tensed. She raised herself to her tiptoes, but was stopped by a fingertip on her lips that were aching for a kiss. The hand that was connected to the fingers disconnected from her lips, even though her wet lips had stuck a little to the surprisingly soft pads. The hand moved around her head, down past her shoulders, lightly tracing her spine, making it tingle until he got to her waist, and he stopped just above the curve in her upper body, and met his other hand on her back He lifted her slowly until the top of her head started to brush the hanging maps whose ink was drying. He started rocking back and forth. De-Ji enveloped Zoro in her legs and watched him with half-lidded practically glowing green eyes. Zoro's head was raised, watching the sparkle in her eyes. De-Ji blinked slowly, waiting for the right moment. Zoro started swaying back to the right, and De-Ji moved so that their faces could meet. Zoro stopped in his tracks, so to speak, and had to gain his bearings to start kissing her back. Their lips moved against each other, occasionally opening to wet the other's lips so they would slide more easily on each other, or even to explore their mouths, even though they knew each other's teeth like their own. De-Ji's arms laxed around Zoro's shoulders and stretched outward as she leaned against him to be in a more comfortable position. Underneath her, she could feel Zoro's hands and the muscles in his arms clench and unclench as she teased him with her tongue and lips.

A sudden knock at the door interrupted them and made them rip from each other. They both turned to glare at the door when the knock resounded through the room again. They both let out an aggravated sigh at the same time, and Zoro dropped De-Ji, who landed on her feet. Zoro walked over to the door and opened it a crack, and then dodged just in time to avoid the door from ramming into his face.

"GET OUT OF HERE!! NEVER COME IN HERE TO DO THAT EVER AGAIN!!" Nami screamed as she stomped into the room. Anger washed over Zoro's face and he couldn't help but scream back at her,

"WE WEREN'T DOING THAT! WE WERE JUST—" But then he was interrupted by Nami pointing at the doorway and yelling back,

"I DON'T CARE JUST GET OUT!!" De-Ji tiptoed past Nami carefully, and tugged gently at Zoro's shirt to try to get him to leave so he wouldn't horribly maim Nami or something. He glanced down at her with his face still full of rage, then looked back at Nami. He muttered something at her, then started walking out. De-Ji followed closely, even holding onto the green cloth that was swathed around his waist. And so they went back to looking for another new spot that was void of people…


	23. SanTa Breakfast in Bed

Takono woke up to the smell of eggs. She sat up in bed, letting the sheets slip down as she stretched, then snatched them back up. It was cold! She shivered a little, then flopped back down on top of the warm pillows and mattress. She could get up later, no big deal. She closed her eyes to get some more rest, and let her mind wander into sleep.

"Ohaio Gozaimasu my dearest Takono-swan" Sanji said suavely, then blinked when he saw his little wife still in the queen size bed that they shared. He smiled and tip-toed out of the room. Once he was out of the room, he shut the door quietly then walked to the kitchen for a surprise. He picked up a fold-out tray, made sure it was folded, put the plate of eggs and a piece of toast on the tray, and headed back to their bedroom. He opened the door, wincing at the slight squeak in the door. He would have to get that fixed. He silenced his stride, with the help of the carpet, then went over to the bed, put the slightly heavy tray down on the nightstand that sat next to the big bed, then turned his attentions to the girl huddled in the sheets. Sanji reached out and shook her slightly. She moaned, turned over and enclosed the comforter around her more tightly. A smiled worked its way onto Sanji's face. He shook her again, no harder, then withdrew his hand and waited for a reaction.

Takono sat up again, her head a mass of bed head, and looked in Sanji's direction. She rubbed some of the sleep out of her eyes. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and started to flatten her hair to her head. Sanji chuckled a little, and seized Takono's interest. She looked over at him and beamed her wonderful smile. Sanji couldn't help but smile himself. Takono practically fell over reaching for Sanji, but he leaned over and Takono caught herself on Sanji's shoulders. He embraced her as well.

"Good morning, Sanji-kun!" Takono greeted him. He squeezed to tell her that he had heard her. They both let go at the same time, and Takono caught a glance of her breakfast in bed. She gasped in delight, and reached for it with fingers groping empty air. Sanji twisted his lean body around to get a sight of what Takono was looking at, and smiled again when he saw. He righted his body, then stood up and took the step that he needed to make it to the nightstand. He picked up the tray with one hand and unfolded it with the other, and set it over Takono's body. She sat up straighter with her eyes were sparkling. If it tasted anything of how good it smelled, Sanji was getting better at cooking, if that's possible. Takono grabbed the fork and jabbed into the seasoned eggs. She put the full fork in her mouth. She could have sworn that the Nutcracker was playing on her tongue. Sanji's visible eye formed into a heart as he listened to her 'yummy' sounds as she crushed the baby chickens that never had a chance under her teeth.

"Do you need anything, Takono-swan?" Sanji asked after she swallowed. She probably wouldn't have heard him past the tastes in her mouth. Takono ran her tongue around the inside of her mouth, partly to think and partly to find some hidden pieces of eggs that had escaped her tongue before. Her mouth _was_ a little dry. She had gone all night without a drink, and even before bed the night before she had been a little thirsty.

"Orange juice?" Takono requested. Sanji was all too happy to oblige. He noodle-danced his way out of the room to the kitchen practically singing out to her,

"I'LL SQUEEZE THE ORANGES MYSELF MY LOVE!!" He got to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and took out a few oranges. He peeled the citrus fruit deftly, taking off all of the white skin-like inside of the peeling that he could, with the orange peel all in one curling piece, and the core-like in one piece as well. Grinning in triumph, he threw it in the fridge. It could be used later. It was packed with vitamins, and when ground and cooked with the right ingredients, it would taste good. He remembered when he used to squish the orange during the peeling, and it would come off in little bits and pieces. And the core never came out just right, either, and he would usually be sprayed with the sticky juice by the time he was done too. He was glad that he had learned how to peel an orange the right way. Breaking out of his reminiscence, He grabbed a cup out of the cupboard. He grabbed the orange in just the right way, and squeezed with the correct amount of pressure. Juice poured out of the bottom, right into the cup and without spilling a drop. He checked how much juice was in the bottom in the cup, then threw the rest of the drained orange in with the peel. He started on the second, and moved onto a third. It was a small cup, so it only took a little more than a few oranges to fill the cup. He added only a pinch of sugar. It shouldn't be too sweet, or it wouldn't taste right. He walked back to the room carefully, but still smoothly. Takono was chewing a little on the buttered toast when he walked in. They smiled at each other, and Sanji set down the cup of orange liquid on her tray.

Takono grabbed the cup and took a sip. If perfection was liquid, this was it. It wasn't too sweet, but saccharine enough to quench a sweet tooth the size of Africa. She swirled it in her mouth, then swallowed and sighed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sanji leap right over her and the bed, and landed on the other side of the bed, and without rocking the whole mattress so that her food wouldn't spill. A few ripples ripped through her juice, but that was all that happened. Sanji sat down and scooted closer to Takono. Takono dug into her morning meal again. She couldn't get enough of the buttery toast and spiced eggs. No matter how much you had of Sanji's cooking, it just wasn't enough. Takono didn't feel like getting her hands dirty in bed, so she started trying to cut the toast into pieces. Sanji reached over and engulfed her hands with his and cut the piece of toasted bread into pieces with her hands in his own.

When the meal was gone, even the tiniest crumbs had vanished, Takono sat back onto her pillows and sighed ultimate contentment. She swiveled her head to look at her lover, and showed off her white teeth again.

Sanji held out his precious cooking hands. Wonder swept over Takono. His hands were the most important part of him, to him, and he was offering them to her. She was touched by his offer. Takono placed her own hands into his. She squeezed gently and smiled softly at him. They held each other in a comfortably loose grip. Sanji's one eye dropped every hint of lust, and was replaced by sentiment. She stared into his visible blue eye. She could stare at it for forever. He seemed to be soaking her in through her bottle green eyes. He seemed to be pulling her toward him by the gaze in his cobalt eyes. She moved closer, her soul drawn to him. He seemed to be taken over by the same feeling. He was inching toward her. Why was time moving so slowly?! It was frustrating. The love of her life was right there, and yet so far away. Now only a few inches. Takono thought she might scream. At the last inch, Her eyes had drifted shut and her breathing had seemed to slow. The next thing she noticed was soft flesh against her lips. After a few moments, Sanji slowly started moving his mouth against hers, then started speeding his movements ever so slightly. He waited a little more, then parted his lips and sent his tongue out to tentively explore her lips and to gain entrance.

Takono had thought that she had been enjoying herself before, but when her sweetheart started begging for entrance, her heart took off. She separated her lips and let Sanji in. His mouth closed around hers and his tongue gladly took the chance and skimmed inside her mouth. She couldn't believe it, but he tasted better than his food. Maybe a little like smoke, but that was okay. He was trying to quit, and he had probably had one a while ago. She hadn't noticed before, but her lungs were burning. She didn't want to stop, but it wouldn't do any good to die while she was kissing him. Slowly, she broke away with a wet sound from Sanji's tongue being pulled from her mouth. She panted a little from lack of oxygen and a reason that also had set blood in her fair cheeks.

Sanji watched her a little. Then, he took one of his prized hands and ran the backs of the fingers down her flushed cheeks and smiled. He willed his heartbeat to slow. It couldn't listen to his mind when his heart was watching Takono…


	24. Art Reparations

Deej stared at her picture. She thought it was ready to show Garth, and see if anything needed changing. She stood up and walked into the next room, where Garth was hard at work on his next masterpiece. She tried to peek over his shoulder, and he quickly covered his picture. She always tried to steal a look, and he always hid it from her. Them being artists, that's just how it was. He looked up at her over his shoulder.

"It's ready," She said, holding up the picture. Garth smiled and took it and put it under better lighting and looked over it, mentally making notes to mention to her. Deej crouched down beside his chair and watched his face as he went over her picture. She liked to watch thoughts and emotions flicker over his handsome features. Garth tapped a forefinger on a couple of parts and Deej pursed her lips for a moment. She knew those would need fixing.

Once Garth was done, he turned to Deej and motioned upward. She stood so that she could see her picture better. Garth pointed out the little mistakes, and Deej nodded through it, making mental notes on the parts. Garth handed her the picture once he was done, and Deej took it back to her work station where her artist supplies were. She sat down and started erasing the light pencil marks and started on them again, trying to perfect it. Once she thought she had finished, she walked over to Garth's work area and tapped him on the shoulder lightly. He jumped and hurriedly went over his picture. Luckily, there was no damage.

"Sorry!" Deej apologized. She had thought that he had heard her come in. Garth smiled at her and forgave her.

"Ready again?" He asked. She nodded and handed it to him. He pointed out a couple of errors that were still there, and Deej thanked him again, then went back and started on them again. She stared at it, trying to imagine how he envisioned it. She erased it again, and started making light pencil marks.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard Garth's chair scoot backward and his footsteps falling toward her. He was standing behind her and she made a couple of last marks and then stared confused at the shadow over her. She turned and saw Garth, standing tall and sure over her, stealing a glance at her progress. He leaned over and shook his head. She tilted her head confused. She thought she had it right this time. Silently, Garth turned her back facing toward her picture and took up her pencil, which was still in her hand and guided it in the correct way across the paper. He leaned in closer until he was up against her back, his head was resting on her shoulder and his arm and hand were engulfing hers. His heat was intoxicating. He smelled like Pocky and paper and ink, almost like a new book. His hand over hers was comforting and filled her with warmth. He was muttering something, but she wasn't paying attention to the words. She was paying attention to the tones and sounds of his voice, which swept over her, making her think of forever being held and protected and cared for. Heat swept up to her cheeks, turning her cheeks pinker than they usually were.

Garth felt the heat of her rushing blood radiating off of her. He lifted his head and looked over at her. Her eyes were transfixed on his arm, eyes staring off into space, breathing slightly sped up. The heat he had felt was from her darkened cheeks. He chuckled and shook the arm he was holding slightly. She snapped out of it.

"Oh," She said softly, "Sorry, I zoned out for a moment," She said, looking over at him. He smiled and gave her a quick hug before standing straight up again.

"It's fine. I fixed it for you," He said, pointing to the picture. She glanced at it, then thanked him and watched him walk off, her heart thumping for him. Once he was out of sight, she returned her attention to her art. She lightly traced his reparations with a fingertip, then started in on some details.


	25. My Fire

De-Ji shivered and clamped her jaws shut so that her teeth would not chatter. She could hardly believe that she was cold. She was usually toasty warm, even in the dead of winter. She huddled further inside the soft blanket that helped somewhat and glanced at the door. Garth should be home soon. A tremor ran down her body again. She sighed and wrapped the blanket closer to her.

A few minutes later, a knock sounded through the room and Garth entered the room and hung his coat on a hook by the door and looked in and saw Deej curled inside a blanket, her eyes welcoming him. He had been looking forward to her coming to him and greeting him with a kiss and a hug, but he could she that she wasn't about to move outside of her bubble of warmth. Garth started to cross the room to sit by her, when he noticed her shaking. He paused, then continued forward and sat by her on the couch, turning toward her and she turned to face him.

"Hey…" She said, her voice lilting in a way that made his heart skip a beat, and she smiled at him that set his heart going at a faster rate. Garth smiled back and amusement filled him at the way her eyes softened and the oh-so-slight way that her smile changed. It vanished as another wave of shakes took her attention for a moment. Then Deej looked back at Garth and smiled up at him sheepishly. "It's cold," She explained. Garth hadn't thought that it was cold inside, but everybody was entitled to their own opinions. He took a corner and pulled it off of her, ignoring the small resistant sound she made, then flung the blanket into the air and maneuvered it so that it fell across the two of them, now sitting so close to the other that they could feel each other's heat.

Once the blanket had settled over the two of them, Garth enfolded Bekah in his arms, and she curled hers loosely around his neck and shoulders, her fingers entwining themselves on the back of his neck and in the dark ends of his hair. She rested her head on his chest, just under his jaw and sighed contentedly, letting herself soak up his warmth, and yet she still quivered.

Garth felt it, and shifted an arm and lifted a hand to her temple and lightly rested his fingertips on it, then curled his fingers loosely around her head and lifted it away from his chest and guided her so that her face was directly in front of his, so close that they could feel each other's shallow breaths. Deej's eyes were staring into his curiously, wondering what he was doing. His hand moved back to being around her waist, and pulled her closer to him so that they were pressed up against the other, erratic heartbeats felt, the other's heat, the other's scent filling their minds, the feel of smooth warm skin on skin, the sound of breathing, the sight of the other's sparkling eyes; it was all there was. The only sense unfulfilled was taste.

A hand of Garth's shifted up to Deej's upper back, pushing her still closer, until her lips connected with his, lightly at first, but as the kiss lengthened a need for more grew and filled them. They pressed harder against each other, lips progressing over each other almost mindlessly. Deej opened her mouth momentarily before closing it over Garth's again. Garth opened his mouth back over Deej's lips, his tongue flicking over her lips. She was wearing her spearmint lip gloss. He slid his hands up her back and dove into her curls, savoring the soft as she massaged the back of his neck. Garth couldn't help himself. He just needed one more taste. He swept his tongue over Deej's bottom lip, and before he could control it, it followed her mouth up to her upper lip as well. By then Deej's mouth was open and moving up, catching Garth's tongue and swirled her own around it. Garth gripped and ungripped her hair, his fingers intertwining with the silky ringlets, his mouth and hers joined into one cavern, with two tongues dancing languorously. He could still taste her lip gloss; it was mixing with her taste. He ran his tongue over her smooth teeth, then to the rough top of her mouth, back to her exploring tongue.

Deej's tongue ran around Garth's tongue, over his teeth, tasting everywhere she could reach. His taste… It was like nothing else. It could compare to nothing else. She couldn't get enough. She ran her tongue back over then under Garth's own, relishing the difference in sensation. Her hands slid from the back of his neck in a slant upward, over his ears, and finally resting on his cheeks, holding his head in place loosely as her mouth interacted with Garth's. He was sending heat through her, despite the cold, sending light through her, despite the dark, setting her heart, soul and mind ablaze. It was then that she realized that Garth was her fire.


	26. Sharing a Campfire

Garth shivered. It was starting to get cold. He looked over at De-Ji, who he had caught rubbing her hands over her arms to try and warm them. De-Ji caught him looking at her and smiled and waved, then walked over to him, carefully stepping around the brush and weeds that stuck to clothing. She wordlessly wrapped her arms around one of his own and huddled herself against him. She felt warm, and no doubt she was enjoying his warmth as well. He turned to hold her closer to him, smiling and resting his head on hers.

"About time for a campfire, wouldn't you say?" He asked her, his warm breath floating past her hair and warming her. She nodded against his chest, almost nuzzling him. He kissed just off to the side where her hair parted, then reluctantly released her. She hugged him tighter for a moment, and then took her arms away as well. They walked to the campfire ring together, hand in hand. Their hands let go reluctantly and started stacking little twigs and sticks into the fire in the vague shape of a teepee. De-Ji fetched the matches while Garth put the last of the twigs into the ring. De-Ji handed the matches to Garth and crouched by him. Garth struck one of the matches against the rough surface on the box, and lit the small scrap of paper that was in the middle of the structure of wood.

The two watched the fire grow, almost hypnotized by the flame, until the heat woke them from their daze. They stood up and gathered a couple of chairs, setting them close to one another. Garth put a few bigger sticks on the fire while De-Ji grabbed a blanket to wrap around their backs so that all sides of them would stay warm. She returned with a green polyester polar fleece blanket that she doubled and wrapped around the both of them after they sat in the chairs. The blanket rested on their shoulders as they sat. Their arms held the other in a loving embrace that kept them warm. Hip to hip, they could feel each other's heat through their clothes.

They stayed like that, breaking only to keep the fire going. They watched the fire in a comfortable silence as the sky blended from light blue to pink to purple to a midnight blue, interrupted by little white specks and a full moon. They kept warm as the cold of night set in, warmed by the other's body heat and affection, and the fire, of course, blazing orange, yellow and blue, giving off light that kept them in a drowsy state of awakefulness; leaving them feeling very content.

"Hmmm… Roasted marshmallows sound good…" De-Ji mumbled and shifted so that she could fit her arm around Garth better. He nodded and tilted his head to rest it on hers again. Long moments passed. Neither of them stirred.

"Aren't you going to get them?" Garth asked, letting his soft tone of voice set the mood in his voice so that it didn't sound rude.

"I thought you were," De-Ji answered, starting to laugh. Garth chuckled a little with her.

"I don't want to get up right now…" He said, taking an arm from around her to play with her curls. De-Ji giggled.

"Yeah, they don't sound _that_ good," She said, starting to caress him. Silence took over them again. But they were perfectly happy as they were, feeling the other against themselves, along with their movements. It was grand, but alas, it could not last for forever. As the night wore on, their eyelids started feeling heavier and heavier until they had started to fall asleep in the chairs.

Garth woke up as the fire popped an air bubble in the stump's sap. He had jumped a little, waking up De-Ji as well. They grinned guiltily at each other, then stretched and got up, both agreeing silently that it was time to go to bed. They tidied up the camp area, putting away food, chairs and other things they had used, and went into the tent to rest with each other.


	27. Living Canvas

Garth put down his pen and sighed. He wanted to draw, but he couldn't quite focus. All he wanted to do was a few random doodles… He walked by De-Ji, careful not to disturb her reading, to grab some paper to work on some doodles. The second time he walked by her, a sharpie caught his eye. It seemed like a good medium to practice with at the time. He didn't want it to bleed through the paper though… He needed something to draw on that the ink wouldn't soak into and throughout… But what?

Garth glanced over at De-Ji, considering asking her for ideas, but he came up with one as soon as his eyes caught sight of the skin of her arm. He took the few steps it took to reach her and pulled the arm that was resting on her stomach toward him, softly saying,

"I'll borrow this for a second, if you don't mind," Causing De-Ji to look at him curiously. He took the sharpie from the table next to her and took the top off, making a little 'pop' resound.

"Um, not to interrupt but what are you doing?" She asked, not being able to resist asking any longer. She had an idea of what he might be doing, but she wanted to make sure. He grinned up at her, but not answering. She replaced her bookmark and set the book down on the table, all without moving her arm, and started watching again.

Garth took the marker's moist tip and put it to De-Ji's forearm, dragging it down and curving it this way and that, lifting and replacing. Lines formed, then shapes, starting off to be a few casual creations of his.

He continued until he ran out of room on her forearm, and started going upward, pushing the sleeve of her t-shirt up to make room. Garth couldn't take his eyes away from the way that the marker moved on her skin, black ink glistening, then drying quickly. Stroke after stroke fell upon her, causing little doodles of Spiderman to appear. As he continued, the doodles grew bigger and bigger until he ran out of room again. He moved to the other arm, and covered it in just as he had done with the other arm. The doodle he was working just could not be left undone, so off went the small road block that prevented him from doing so.

Garth glanced at De-Ji to make sure that she was okay with removing her shirt to maintain his work, she looked a little surprised, but there was nothing in her expression that would tell him if she wanted him to stop. So continue he did. Soon he hit another snag, or a strap, to be exact. He disposed of it as quickly as the shirt and kept at the sketch, the marker strayed onto her back. He pushed her hair over to her other shoulder and gently pushed her forward so that he could continue down.

Garth finished on her back and started where he had left off on the other side. As he neared her left breast, he could feel her muscles tense slightly under the marker's attention.

"Uh, Garth…" She started, but trailing off as she couldn't think of anything to say. He paused and looked up at her face.

"Hmmmm?" He asked her with his noise. He felt her relax, his signal that he could keep going. Slowly he started with the sharpie again. Wondering at the way it sank into her curves, leaving behind goose bumps; Garth knew it meant that she was viewing his actions as romantic.

Seeing more blank space across her, he started off with Super Mario Brothers sketches, letting them get smaller and smaller as his doodle craving dwindled and finally ended as he was beginning to cover her in ink all the way to her navel. After he finished the last draw, he put the cap back on the sharpie and placed it back on the table, leaving De-Ji turning her arms and head this way and that, so that she could see his art on her.

"Wow…" She softly said as her eyes roamed his art. Garth watched her for a moment or two, wondering at her love for him and his art, then took her head in a hand, slipping his hand around to the back of her head and placing it at the nape of her neck before pulling her to him and kissing her sweetly for moments that were all-too short, letting his lips linger against hers for a while, Until he had to break the kiss for air, and to get back to working on his previous illustration.

De-Ji went to the nearest mirror and turned, admiring his art before eventually re-dressing herself and continuing to read her book, occasionally glancing at her arms and Garth, her heart melting each time.


	28. Pocky

It was a cold morning. Bekah woke up shivering under the blankets. Not wanting to open her eyes, she groped blindly for the best source of warmth; her dear boyfriend Garth. But it was futile. He had already gotten up and was working on his costume. He was almost done with the transforming beast of a project, but he still had a few details to work out on it. So Bekah brushed a curl out of her face and opened her eyes, realizing that she felt funny. The sensations in her fingertips didn't quite feel right, her hands were shaking, and she was ravenous. She knew what was wrong. Her blood glucose was low, but the problem had a simple solution: she just needed to eat something.

Bekah stumbled out of bed and headed for the kitchen with full intentions for finding something to eat. She passed the living room, her mind preoccupied with the contents of the refrigerator. She was so engrossed with thoughts of food, that she didn't even hear Garth's greeting.

"Good morning Koibito-chan!" Garth said, and raised a hand. He frowned slightly when she didn't even look his way, and his frown deepened as she bumped her shoulder against the corner of the wall. Something wasn't right. He followed her, watching as she sifted through leftovers, taking a bite or two of a few things, then moving on to the pantry. He kept watching silently, curious as to her actions.

She let out an exclamation as she found a red box with a picture of long chocolate-covered biscuits, one of his many boxes of Pocky. He watched as she tore into the box and inner wrapper, taking out pieces of the Japanese candy and munching on them.

While she worked on introducing sugar into her bloodstream, Garth's artistic brain came up with an idea. He had seen couples on the internet interacting using Pocky, and it had always been something he had wanted to try. That and he would take any chance to get close to Bekah.

Garth waited for her to finish the stick of Pocky she was working on, and as she put the next one in her mouth, he grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around, catching her as she came around and put the opposite end of the Pocky in his mouth, all in one smooth motion. In her surprise, she froze, until her skin covered itself in small bumps. Her blue eyes softened. He could see them much better without her glasses; she had forgotten to put them on in her strange sense of mind. The right corner of her coral lips lifted into a smile that softened her face so that, to put it simply, she was beautiful.

Garth awoke from her spell and noticed that her eyes were slightly glazed and she was having trouble focusing them, reminding him of her strange actions.

"Are you okay?" He asked her around the Pocky in his mouth, his handsome face showing small signs of concern. She nodded, almost snapping the brittle biscuit stick.

"Mm-Hmm, just low blood sugar," she said, words slightly slurred from speaking with the Pocky still in her mouth, as well as the low level of sugar in her blood.

"Good," Garth said, meaning that he was glad that she was all right, biting off the end of the Pocky while keeping it in his mouth, drawing their faces closer together. He watched as Bekah's cheeks went from a healthy rosy-pink to a deeper red. She bit off the end of the Pocky that wasn't dipped in chocolate with an audible crunch, and slid a bit more into her mouth, tongue already working on sucking off the dark chocolate coating. Garth felt his cheeks grow pink with that unique heat surging under his tan skin.

They each took a deep breath in and bit off more of the Pocky. The distance between them was short, but it seemed like a much longer length than it actually was. They bit off of a few more centimeters. The air was still. Neither was breathing. The anticipation was wonderful, and yet at the same time dreadful. The two simply slid more of the Pocky into their mouths, not biting. They could feel each other's heat. So little of the Pocky was left between them. They stared into each other's blue eyes. They slid the last of the Pocky into their mouths, biting it in half as their lips met. The feel of Bekah's soft and warm lips combined with the rich chocolate and bread-like taste of the Pocky was building a passion in Garth like fire, until it was too much for him to bear. He stared into Bekah's sparkling eyes, reading through them that she was having a similar experience as well as driving a smoldering gaze into her eyes, telling her wordlessly what he was about to do.

Garth caved into his craving and let his lips devour Bekah's own. He covered her bottom lip with his and sucked on it, flicking out the tip of his tongue to taste her, mix her flavor with the Pocky's, as well as to see if she wanted to deepen the kiss.

His sweetness was curing her low blood sugar, and at the same time not raising it to an unhealthy level. Then her tongue slowly swept over his lips, from his bottom lip to his top, and down again to where his lips met. A pleased 'Hmmmm' escaped Garth's throat, and he parted his mouth to let her in. She didn't waste her chance. Her tongue delved into his mouth, exploring the familiar cavern. Her tongue still had some chocolate on it.

"Mmmm…" Who had said it, neither knew, but they both agreed. Their tongues danced together merrily, exchanging mouths over and over until neither could tell whose mouth belonged to whom. Garth pulled Bekah to him, moving his hands down her back to hold her waist against him. He felt her arms go around him and rest on his back, her hands against the nape of his neck and in his hair on the back of his head, holding him to her. And so they held each other as they kissed into oblivion.


	29. Beautiful

Garth watched Bekah as she watched the movie. It wasn't really a movie he was interested in, but she had wanted to watch it for a while. It was one of those rare moments where her girlish instincts kicked in and she had the urge to watch something like this or eat chocolate or something. She shifted her head from his shoulder to his lap, with her arms crossed under her head and her head resting on them. Garth looked down at her, running his eyes over her body. He shifted his gaze back to her curls, which were everywhere. He lifted his right arm and put his hand on Bekah's crown of curls and moved it down over her head, gathering the curls as he did so, placing them all in one spot. He repeated the petting action, grinning to himself when she started making her noise that was in between a coo, like that of a pigeon, and a purr. He felt her relax further than she already had been, and he could practically see her eyes half-closing in the simple pleasure she got from the slight pulling of her hair.

Her slight weight and warmth on his thighs were starting to heat him from the inside out, so he turned his attention to the movie instead, while still petting her soft hair. The movie was in the middle of a tender moment between the two characters. The main guy was telling the girl how much she meant to him, and at the end he mentioned something about her being pretty. Garth wasn't paying too much attention to the movie though.

Garth was surprised when he felt Bekah tense up and blow raspberries at the T.V. It was almost like she was mad at how the guy was acting. Garth paid more attention to the movie. The guy seemed to be doing a good job of being sentimental and romantic. He didn't understand.

"What went wrong?" He asked the girl on his thighs. Bekah turned her head to look up at him. Her cheeks were blown out in an almost pouty kind of look.

"He called her hot," She started to explain. Garth still couldn't understand. Wasn't that a good thing? He asked her this, and she continued. "Well yeah, it's flattering and all, but it was bad timing. He should have said-" She cut herself off. "You really don't know?" She asked him. She seemed to be surprised. He shook his head. "Oh. I would have thought you would have known. You're usually really good at telling a girl what exactly she wants to hear, and meaning it," Bekah said, smiling softly. "But, what he should have said was 'beautiful' instead of 'hot', Every girl wants to hear it at some point in their life, and in the movie that would have been the perfect moment. There's even a saying that says something like 'Find a man who calls you beautiful instead of hot because it means he truly cares for you' or something like that." Bekah explained further, watching his face, reading it as he slowly began to understand. Once she was satisfied that he understood it deeply enough, she turned back to the movie, and started to idly trace nothing on his legs. That is, she was making no particular shapes, but was moving her fingers over his lap.

Garth soaked in the sensation of her fingers and started petting her again. He stared at the T.V. but was going through his memories, trying to remember if he had called Bekah beautiful. Oddly, of all the compliments he had given her, he couldn't remember using that specific word. He racked his brain, but there was still nothing.

"Hey," He addressed Bekah softly. She turned her head toward him again, looking up at him with a curious expression and a question in her eyes.

"Hmmm?" She asked wordlessly. The simple sound brought warm memories of exchanging the noise as they kissed, but he shouldn't focus on those memories at the moment.

"Have I ever called you beautiful?" He asked. He watched Bekah's face as she sifted through her own memories. It went from concentrated on her task to a softness and her eyes glistened in the dim light, then back to determined, then finally to a scrunched-up expression that suggested that she couldn't find anything in her memory. She shook her head, re-misplacing her curls.

"I don't remember it if you did…" She trailed off. Garth raised an eyebrow at himself. He hadn't known, but that was no excuse.

"Well you are," He said, and scooped Bekah up in his arms and drew her to his face, planting a kiss on her lips that rivaled the sweetness of honey. She returned it with the same sweetness.

As soon as the kiss ended, their lips trying to stick together, Bekah pressed her lips together and thanked him and threw her arms around his neck and kissed him again, pressing her soft lips to his once more, saying without words how much she appreciated that one compliment.

Regretfully, after the kiss was broken apart again, Bekah sighed and went back to watching the movie, this time resting her head on his chest with an arm on his shoulder and the other bent across his abdomen and up to his chest. Garth kissed her on the top of her head tenderly, wrapped his strong arms around her, savoring her warmth and softness against him and went back to enjoying the movie with her.


End file.
